'Whatever Russia is testing, it's sophisticated': 2 Russian satellites get within 10 feet of each other in orbit

Two Russian spacecraft just demonstrated a very particular set of orbital skills. The satellites , known as COSMOS 2581 and COSMOS 2583, got within just 10 feet (3 meters) or so of each other on April 28, according to COMSPOC, a Pennsylvania-based space situational awareness company. "This wasn't a coincidental pass — COSMOS 2583 performed several fine maneuvers to maintain this tight configuration," COMSPOC wrote in a May 1 X post , which featured an animation of the rendezvous. The two satellites and a third one, COSMOS 2582, launched to low Earth orbit in February 2025 atop a Soyuz rocket. According to COMSPOC, all three of them were involved in the recent rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), as was "Object F," a subsatellite previously deployed by COSMOS 2583 . During the 10-foot close approach, "COSMOS 2582 trailed the formation at sub-100 km range, while Object F passed within 15 km of 2582 and within 10 km of 2581 — neither maneuvered," wrote COMPSOC, which analyzed radar tracking data gathered by the California company LeoLabs . "For context: in late 2025 to now, we tracked these same COSMOS satellites performing 3-object RPO," COMSPOC added in the May 1 X post. "Whatever Russia is testing, it's sophisticated." Such sophisticated orbital maneuvering is not exactly surprising; we've seen similar things from Russia before. …