- cross-posted to:
- geopol@sopuli.xyz
- cross-posted to:
- geopol@sopuli.xyz
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The upshot is that these four Russian satellites are now positioned to routinely pass near a commercial radar surveillance satellite operated by the Finnish-American company ICEYE.
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Targeting a single spacecraft, such as ICEYE-X36, in a constellation of similar imaging satellites would do little to inhibit the access of Ukraine or other Western nations to radar surveillance imagery. ICEYE, itself, operates dozens more radar imaging satellite
Honestly, this looks like smoke and mirrors to me, misdirection. "Hey everyone, look over here! Pay attention to what these satellites doing very conspicuously.
Definitely pay no attention to the little elevation change this other satellite is making… It’s just a routine altitude boost…"
Like a stage magician, that wand, that beautiful assistant, they’re designed to distract you, draw your eye specifically to where the action isn’t happening.
No need to worry, every single satellite in orbit is easily tracked 24/7, by thousands of people, professional and amateur, across the world. So little to no chance of this kind of distraction working.
Well yes and no, little elevation changes like I mentioned earlier do happen all the time. It would be easy to miss something subtle that turned out to be significant. Or maybe the issue is that some other satellite just started reflecting 30% more light, an easy thing to miss. But what it means is that it changed shape, unfurled some device it was hiding until now.
The Russians aren’t dumb, their space game is good and their spy craft game is better. Targeting 1 satellite in this constellation makes no sense. I really do think it’s a distraction.
Or it could be a show of force. The technical expertise and planning required to get 4 satellites to cross within 500m of a target is formidable. From that range, any kind of attack is highly feasible. They’re telling us what they can do in an attempt to intimidate.
The technical expertise and planning required to get 4 satellites to cross within 500m of a target is formidable.
I mean, once you’re in a stable orbit, as long as your thrusters are working properly, it’s really not all that challenging.
I’m really not sure if it is much of a show of technical capability to make a few plane changes. If anything, the precision involved in their GLONASS system (the Russian equivalent of GPS) is much more impressive.
At least, I’m very not intimidated by that capability.
Huge amounts of delta-v required for plane changes, the intimate knowledge of your target’s orbit, the deep knowledge and infrastructure required to get into a stable low earth orbit etc.
Each satellite is purpose-built for its mission. This is the way it has to be in space. These are satellites which are purpose-built to intercept other satellites, which is a show of force.
Man, Russia triggering Kessler Syndrome would be peak 2026 energy 😑
I wonder how we’d get along without sattelites these days.
