Unusual Russian orbiter has stargazers wondering: Is it a satellite killer?

Object 2014-28E, a Russian satellite, has been scooting across the skies in an odd fashion – and stirring speculation that Russia has reignited its space-weapons program.

|
Pavel Golovkin/AP
Russia's Soyuz-FG booster rocket with the space capsule Soyuz TMA-14M is moved into position after being rolled out to the launch pad at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, in September.

Is it just a piece of space junk, or an orbital predator?

That is the question many amateur astronomers and, no doubt, military professionals are asking themselves as they track an odd space vehicle, known as Object 2014-28E, as it appears to maneuver among other satellites. Some suggest it could be the reincarnation of the top-secret Soviet-era "Istrebitel Sputnikov" satellite killer program, which was shelved when the USSR collapsed more than two decades ago.

The object, launched last May in a cluster with several other Russian satellites, was originally classified as space debris. But then it started moving around in ways uncharacteristic for inert trash, and it rang alarm bells last weekend when it appeared to rendezvous with a piece of the rocket that originally launched it.

There is no official comment from Moscow. Although the Russian media has lately been full of stories about a new generation of Russian satellites and ambitious plans to revive the once-mighty Soviet space program, there has been no mention of an undeclared, highly maneuverable satellite as part of Russia's currently operating space inventory.

Experts quoted by the Financial Times warn against rushing to judgment. Assuming the observations are accurate, the object could have several possible missions, including satellite repair and removing dangerous space junk from orbital corridors. But given the Russian secrecy surrounding its launch and orbital activities, they say, it could just as easily be a military project.

Most Russian space experts refuse to even discuss the claim that Object 2014-28E might be part of a renewed Russian "satellite killer" program. Some claim the reports are just part of a wave of "cold war hysteria" sweeping the West, including headlines about alleged Russian submarines lurking in Swedish waters, or alarmist reports about what the Russians describe as the renewal of routine Soviet-era military patrols in international airspace.

"I keep reading these stories about Russian troops invading Ukraine, invisible submarines, and now secret satellites. You should talk to a psychotherapist about this, not to me," says Andrei Klimov, deputy chair of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament.

Alexander Golts, a military expert with the online Yezhednevny Zhurnal, says that little is known about the Soviet Istrebitel Sputnikov project. Even today there are only rumors about a manned vehicle that had been developed to cruise the spaceways and destroy enemy satellites in the event of World War III.

He says he does not completely discount the speculations about Object 2014-28E, but adds that there are strong reasons to remain skeptical.

"For one thing, all Russian arms control policies are founded on strong objections to the militarization of space. We know we could not win, technologically, in a space arms race with the US. Hence our main goal is to prevent it through political and diplomatic means. Getting caught launching an actual satellite killer would upend decades of patient Russian diplomacy about this," he says.

Second, he adds, Russia's military space program is still far behind its targets.

"We have only two of the needed 10 early warning satellites in operation today. The very last thing we should want to do just now is trigger a space arms race."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Unusual Russian orbiter has stargazers wondering: Is it a satellite killer?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/1118/Unusual-Russian-orbiter-has-stargazers-wondering-Is-it-a-satellite-killer
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe