Gerry Palmers Science 08.10.2022 23:Aug PM EDT

The Pentagon Has Spoken Out Against Russia's Launch of a Spy Satellite

The Pentagon called Russia's move to launch a spy satellite "irresponsible" as it was detected shadowing a US government reconnaissance satellite launched a few months back.

The Russian satellite, known as Kosmos 2558, launched on Aug. 1 riding on a Soyuz2.1v rocket and was seen to have been positioned in about the same orbit as the American satellite USA 326 that was launched on Feb. 2 riding on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. According to Marco Langbroek, a Netherlands-based satellite tracker, Kosmos 2558 was mirroring the American satellite's orbit with a difference of just 0.04 degrees and a separation of 37 miles (60 kilometers), as of August 2.

The two satellites have been spotted in close altitude that could lead to a relatively close encounter soon, provided none of the satellites make any substantial movements in the coming days.

Russian Satellite Launch Shows 'Really Irresponsible Behavior,' Says US SPACECOM Commander

Russia's launch of the spy satellite shows "really irresponsible behavior," stressed U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) commander Gen. James H. Dickinson in a NBC News report. He justified this by saying the Russian satellite was "in a similar orbit to one of our high-value assets for the U.S. government." Dickinson vowed continued updates and monitoring of the Russian satellite's movements.

USA 326 haa also showed some interesting activity. The reconnaissance American satellite ejected an object recently, which could be a subsatellite or a piece of debris, astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell said in a Space.com report. McDowell is based in the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

In 2020, two Russian satellites moved to within about 100 miles of the U.S. government's USA 245 spacecraft, Langbroek noted.

The Pentagon also slammed Russia's move at that time, with Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, chief of space operations for the U.S Space Force, describing it in a Time interview as "unusual and disturbing."

U.S. officals also voiced concern over other space-focused moves by Russia especially the recent launch of an Iranian satellite Khayyam from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

Iran claimed the satellite will be used for environmental monitoring and will stay under Tehran's control.

U.S. Officials Concerned by Iranian Satellite Launched by Russia

US officials, however, feared the satellite could be used by Moscow to spy on troop movements in Ukraine, a BBC report showed.

In a Washington Post interview, the officials alleged that the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, told Tehran that it planned to maintain control over the satellite for "several months or longer" to assist with its war effort in Ukraine.

These unnamed officials said the satellite could give Iran and Russia "unprecedented capabilities" to almost continuously monitor troop movements and bases.

But Tehran has denied the allegations and underscored that Iran will have full control and operation over the satellite "from day one".

Fitted with a high-resolution camera, the satellite will be used for agricultural programs and to monitor water resources and other environmental applications, the Iranian space agency said.

Iran's state news agency Irna said Tehran's space agency had already received the first data from the satellite.

The launch comes just weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.