MENLO PARK, USA, Oct. 19, 2026 - Russian military satellite Kosmos 2612 manoeuvred close to ICEYE-X36, a commercial US-operated radar satellite, between 15 and 19 October. The tracking firm LeoLabs said it came within roughly 500 metres and performed several manoeuvres to hold that position. Other estimates suggest the two may at one point have been only a few metres apart, and the actual closest distance is unconfirmed. The Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi reported that the satellite closed to within 26 metres during its pursuit.

ICEYE-X36 is operated by ICEYE US, part of the Finland-based Iceye, and some ICEYE satellites provide imagery to Ukraine. Kosmos 2612 launched in April 2026. Space analyst Jonathan McDowell said it appears to be the first unapproved close encounter between two active operational satellites, and US official Thomas DiNanno called its actions threatening. LeoLabs did not establish hostile intent.

The 1967 space treaties do not explicitly prohibit such approaches, and no international standard defines an acceptable distance between satellites. Iceye says it is tracking the situation closely.

Impact Insight. Satellites in low Earth orbit move at about 7.5 kilometres per second, so even a slow, deliberate approach leaves little margin for error, and a collision there could scatter debris across orbits that many operators use. The radar and optical tracking networks that caught this encounter are part of the same space-surveillance effort that keeps watch over near-Earth space, from satellites and debris to incoming asteroids.