Mystery Russian spacecraft is making unusual maneuvers
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028439
New Scientist : A rocket launched 23 May from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia released four spacecraft. Three of those craft are believed to be military communications satellites. The fourth is something of a mystery. Instead of settling into a stable orbit like the other spacecraft, it has been changing course repeatedly and on 28 October approached the rocket that put it into orbit. Those sorts of maneuvers are mostly associated with two types of spacecraft: satellite repair robots and antisatellite weapons (ASATs). Russia officially stopped developing ASATs in the 1980s, but in 2010 Russian space commander Oleg Ostapenko said that the country had begun work on the technology again in response to rising tensions between Russia and Western nations.
