Story perspectives

Russia satellite closes within 5 km of ICEYE-X36

By Drooid · Oct 20, 2026, 11:37 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Russia's Cosmos-2612 satellite moved within 100 metres of Finland's ICEYE-X36 satellite on October 18.
LeoLabs reported the gap shrank from over 320 km to roughly 5 km in under a day.
The maneuver was unusually fuel-intensive and uncommon for low-Earth-orbit satellites.
No damage was reported to ICEYE-X36 after the close approach.
In May, five Russian Kosmos satellites entered ICEYE-X36’s orbital plane, one passing within about 2.5 km.

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Story summary

Russia's Cosmos-2612 satellite moved within 100 metres of Finland's ICEYE-X36 satellite on October 18.
LeoLabs reported the gap shrank from over 320 km to roughly 5 km in under a day.
The maneuver was unusually fuel-intensive and uncommon for low-Earth-orbit satellites.
No damage was reported to ICEYE-X36 after the close approach.
In May, five Russian Kosmos satellites entered ICEYE-X36’s orbital plane, one passing within about 2.5 km.