Russia's Kosmos 2558 carried out a secretaive and dangerous military operation in space when US was busy bombing Iran
Donald Trump
sending in B-2 Spirit stealth bombers to drop the GBU-57 Massive Ordinance Penetrator bunker busters, Russian President
Vladimir Putin
was playing a diffent ball game, and probably testing an anti-satellite weapon.
A small mysterious object, probably a spy satellite with the capability to knock down other satellites, lauched by Russia's Kosmos (Cosmos) 2558 was detected on June 26, just four days after the American bombers dropped bunker busters on Iran. The smaller satellite deployed by Russia's
Kosmos 2558
is being called "2025-089C" or "Object C". It is believed to be capable of anti-satellite (ASAT) warfare. The Russians can use it to destroy other satellites and render their enemy blind in space.
Launched on August 1, 2002, on a Soyuz-2-1v Volga rocket from Plesetsk cosmodrome, the Kosmos 2558 satellite's mission is unknown.
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But defence experts claim it is "satellite inspector", meaning it has been sent to spy on other satellites. Since its launch almost three years back, the Russian satellite has been tracked as closely following the
US spy satellite
USA 326.
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Russia vs USA in space
The Russian Kosmos 2558 satellite is not an ordinary spay satellite but has a much bigger role. Such space spying maneuvering satellites have new names - "nesting satellites" or "space stalkers".
These nesting satellites like Kosmos 2558 carry smaller and armed satellites inside them and can deploy them as per a pre-programed schedule or when they are signalled to do so from ground control.
With space becoming increasingly militarized, the US, Russia and China along with a few other countries have been deplying spy satellites at a rapid pace. Some of the satellites are also likley to have offensive capabilities and can be used to either "kill" other space-based assets or even those on the ground.
Even the USA 326, launched of February 2, 2022, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, has a classified mission designed to help the US military carry out its operations. The satellite is likley a KH-11 Advanced Enhanced Crystal optical reconnaissance satellite, which can capture and deliver real-time, high-resolution imagery directly to US intelligence agencies.
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With another
Russian spy satellite
following the USA 326 closely, and now releasing a space asset with potential ASAT capability, the threat perception to America has risen manifolds.
Russia has a well-oiled program to trail and hunt enemy satellites. The secretive operation of known in the western world as Project Nivelir.
Under this Project Nivelir, Russian nesting satellites have launched smaller space assets at least thrice in the last five years. Such a maneuvre bring to forte the advanced capabilities of Russian space and military capabilities which have not been dented even with the ongoing war with Ukraine and the massive western sanctions in force against it since February 2022.
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