Two Russian military satellites of undisclosed mission last week they carried out an unusual RPOacronym in English for Encounter and Proximity Operationapproaching less than three meters each other while moving at practically the same speed. The devices are part of a larger group that was launched in early 2025 and that have also participated in the RPO. In total, The satellites involved have been three and one subsatelliteas concluded COMSPOC Operations Teamthe operational team of the American company specialized in space situational awareness COMSPOC. The information is based on data provided by the global network of radars LeoLabs Space.
According to RussianSpaceWeb, the three satellites of the Russian Ministry of Defense were launched into orbit by a rocket Soyuz 2-1v that took off from the Cosmodrome Plesetsk on February 5 of last year. The upper stage Volga launched the satellites Kosmos-2581, Kosmos-2582 and Kosmos-2583official designation of Roscosmos. Subsequently, Kosmos-2583 released the subsatellite Object-F who has been accompanying them since then.
It is not the first time that they have carried out a maneuver of this type in the more than a year that they have been orbiting at almost 600 kilometers altitude. Already in March 2025, Kosmos-2581 and Kosmos-2582 approached at a distance only 10 meters apart while flying at a speed around 27,000 km/h.
Other RPOs, in different combinations between the satellites, have taken place since then. In mid-June 2025, Kosmos-2583 ascended 10 kilometers to remain very close to Kosmos-2581 until the end of that month.
🛰️Russian satellites multi-object proximity event in LEO
Radar tracking data via @LeoLabs_Spaceprocessed through COMSPOC SSA Suite.
This week we observed a complex proximity event involving Russian satellites: COSMOS 2581, 2582, 2583, and Object F (a subsatellite released by… pic.twitter.com/3nDkcOmTuD
— COMSPOC_OPS (@COMSPOC_OPS) May 1, 2026
Last week’s was not a casual crossing: COSMOS 2583 performed several fine maneuvers to maintain this tight configuration‘, explains COMSPOC in a publication on X that includes an animation of the meeting.
During the approach maneuver to less than three meters between Kosmos-2581 and Kosmos-2583, ‘COSMOS 2582 was trailing the formation less than 100 kilometers away, while Object F passed less than 15 kilometers from 2582 and less than 10 kilometers from 2581; neither of them maneuvered‘, adds COMSPOC. And concludes that ‘Whatever Russia is testing, it’s sophisticated’.
The purpose of this type of maneuver and the satellites themselves is unknown, but there have been previous cases of behavior such as ‘inspection satellites’. In 2020, Kosmos-2542 approached a distance of 160 kilometers from the American spy satellite USA 245which he followed for several days.