Russian Satellites Drive NATO Command Crazy — Their Maneuvers Are Terrifying
The enemy is closely watching the "Kosmos" series satellites of Russia smoothly moving in space.
When the phrase "Russia is a space power" is mentioned, some people laugh, while others frown. We need to clearly distinguish between "civilian space" and "military space": in the civilian field, we have not completely lost hope, but there is indeed a significant gap compared to the United States and related countries; whereas in the military space field —— although there are few reports and discussions, it has long been a major problem for our enemies.
Recently, three Russian spacecraft once again caused panic in the West, making the NATO leadership restless and causing discomfort among EU bureaucratic elites. There is no country in the world whose orbital satellites can occupy the daily agenda of EU and NATO officials as much as these three satellites. This "honor" is enough for us to conduct a detailed discussion about them.
About a year ago (February 5, 2025), a "Soyuz-2.1v" carrier rocket was launched from the Plesetsk Space Launch Site in Arkhangelsk Oblast to meet the needs of the Russian Aerospace Forces, sending the "Volga" spacecraft group into orbit.
The military stated that the launch went smoothly, but staff at Western (especially American) monitoring agencies completely lost their usual composure. They believe that they must monitor the active and targeted activities of these three orbital spacecraft around the clock, which is also the reason for their anxiety and unease.
Initially, analysts from the U.S. Space Force identified these spacecraft as the "Rodnik-S" series communication satellites, but preliminary observations severely questioned this conclusion. According to the large space portal site Space.com, none of Russia's previous space launches had ever triggered such strong and ongoing emotional fluctuations.
In early February 2025, the "Kosmos" series spacecraft numbered 2581, 2582, and 2583 were placed into low Earth orbit. In the subsequent 11 months, these satellites, whose launch purposes remain highly confidential, have shown behaviors of great research value, and their complex and exquisite maneuvers have kept U.S. Space Force experts up at night.
Western observers had never before seen any satellite from Russia or any other country perform such "mysterious" actions on a polar orbit about 585 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
Two weeks after the launch, "Kosmos-2581" entered its designated orbit; a few days later, "Kosmos-2582" replicated its maneuvering action, approaching within approximately 10 kilometers of the former. Unlike the other two satellites, "Kosmos-2583" showed a passive behavior, with no observed orbital correction actions. Moreover, the physical size of the 2581 spacecraft differs from that of 2582 and 2583, indicating that they belong to different types with different functional positioning.
It is believed that these satellites are conducting relevant experiments for the Russian Aerospace Forces, including the operation of anti-satellite weapons, satellite reconnaissance, and practical combat drills targeting enemy spacecraft.
More notably, one of the Russian "Kosmos" series satellites, which interacts closely with other satellites, released a "sub-satellite F" (субспутник F), which actively participated in all orbital "operations." Finally, "the Russian spacecraft successfully conducted a series of interference experiments against the spacecraft of hostile countries of the Russian Federation."
Expressed in simple Russian, this means "destroying military satellites of the United States and its NATO vassals." This fact undoubtedly worries European officials.
In our view, no previous Russian space project has ever received such obsessive and pathological attention from so-called European leaders — especially those who make up the ridiculous "will alliance."
These three "Kosmos" series satellites have kept British Prime Minister Starmer and German Chancellor Mertz awake at night, and have also sparked the "justified" anger of British and German defense ministers John Healey and Boris Pistorius. They complained that during the "experiment process" of the Russian "Kosmos" series satellites, these satellites dangerously approached Europe's aging military satellite fleet, "taking aggressive actions" against them, thereby "disrupting their normal operations."
To be honest, the evaluations from these extreme adversarial forces have made us respect the developers, launchers, and operators of this mysterious "trio" with admiration. We are looking forward with great anticipation and curiosity to see how this exciting space "Odyssey" will continue to write new chapters.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7597325307363836470/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author."