A map has given a hint of how close a Russian satellite approached a spacecraft that provides Ukraine with intelligence in an incident that a space expert told Newsweek was a "shadowing" mission by Moscow.
Media outlets reported how Russia's Kosmos-2612 got within meters of the Finnish-U.S. satellite ICEYE-X36 last weekend. It follows warnings from experts about growing Russian counterspace activity near Western satellites.
Two vehicles rendezvousing or docking in space is common, but Kosmos 2612’s actions could be the first time a spacecraft approached another without permission, said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and space analyst.
"This incident emphasizes the need for international norms on space 'rules of the road'—how close to someone else's satellite is unacceptably close? There is no standard," he told Newsweek.
Newsweek has contacted Finnish microsatellite manufacturer and operator ICEYE, the Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian space agency Roscosmos for comment.
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What Do We Know About the Approach?
Ukrainian military website Militarnyi said that at 2.06 a.m. UTV on Monday, Russia's Kosmos-2612 was 640 meters (2,000 feet) behind ICEYE-X36 and 2 kilometers above it.
By 16:07 UTC, the distance between them had narrowed to just 26 meters (85 feet) Miltarnyi said, citing the graphic map from satellite.map.space that shows the encounter.
However, Hyun Seo, chief product officer at space situational company Kayhan Space, told Newsweek that the objects could have been as close as 8.8 meters (29 feet) on Sunday.
"This estimate comes from the previous day’s orbit predictions. Other predictions differ substantially, so the satellites’ actual closest distance remains unconfirmed," Seo said, citing analysis of the space flight intelligence platform Satcat.
By Tuesday, the satellites were estimated to have moved to roughly 1,400-1,500 kilometers (870-930 miles) apart along their orbital path, Seo said.
But at the modeled closest point, the satellites had a relative speed of just 0.13 meters per second, which is very slow relative to each other while traveling around Earth. This suggests that the Russian satellite was "shadowing" or following an orbital path closely matching another satellite’s, Seo said.
Shadowing gives the chance to study a satellite's design and operations. With suitable equipment, a nearby spacecraft could inspect the satellite, observe its equipment, monitor and collect information and disrupt operations.
"These risks make the encounter a security concern, particularly given the role commercial satellites play in supporting national security activities," Seo said. "This raises a clear security concern for commercial satellite operators. ICEYE’s publicly disclosed work with Ukraine adds to the significance of the encounter."
The orbital data alone does not establish Russia’s specific objective, what equipment KOSMOS 2612 carries, or whether surveillance or interference occurred.
However, in May, four Russian military satellites adjusted their position to match the orbital plane of ICEYE-X36, according to a June report from the Royal United Services Institute.
The U.K.-based think tank suggested that intimidation, as well as kinetic and non-kinetic interference by Moscow, could have been motives.
Seo said that this week's encounter "raises questions about how Western governments would respond to threatening activity near commercial space assets, including those operated by companies in NATO countries."
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How Does Ukraine Use ICEYE-X36?
ICEYE-X36 is a U.S.-Finnish spacecraft launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on March 4, 2024.
It travels in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of up to 546 km (339 miles) at around 27,334 km/h, (17,000 mph), completing one full orbit every 96 minutes or just over 15 per day.
On January 19, 2026, ICEYE announced it was increasing its cooperation with Ukraine's war effort against Russia. That included expanding Ukraine's access to its high-resolution SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) imagery "to support faster, day and night, all-weather tactical decision-making for national security."
John Cartwright, ICEYE senior vice president of data product said in a statement in January that the agreement "strengthens assured access to our high-resolution SAR imagery, helping Ukraine make decisions faster and with greater confidence."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Dave Siminoff.