COSMOS 2612 (SSC.68762) walks up to ICEYE-X36 (SSC.59103) In July we posted on the Cosmos 2609–2614 group. Back then we flagged COSMOS 2612 as the satellite best placed to reach ICEYE-X36. Three months later, it did. Analysis via COMSPOC SSA. On 1 October COSMOS 2612 raised its orbit ~47 km. The higher orbit gave it a fast catch-up drift, and it passed ICEYE-X36 at ~55 km on 5 October and again on 12 October. Within about two hours of the second pass it made two retrograde burns (~27 m/s total) and dropped back to ICEYE-X36’s altitude, ~515 km behind it. Between 13 and 16 October seven small burns (~5 m/s total) closed that gap. By 16 October COSMOS 2612 was in ICEYE-X36’s plane (within 0.003°) and at its altitude. Since the two share a plane, there are no plane crossings to wait for. From 16–18 October they spent ~24 hours within 2 km of each other and ~12 hours within 1 km. First pass was ~220 m (max uncertainty ~490 m) near 14:03 UTC on 16 October. It then held 2–4 km behind before drawing level on 17 October and settling into a centred safety ellipse around ICEYE-X36, which it held for the rest of the day. Closest pass in our solution was ~60 m (max uncertainty ~950 m) near 14:18 UTC. By late on 17 October it had drifted ~2 km ahead, then trimmed back for a third pass at ~260 m (max uncertainty ~160 m) near 01:58 UTC on 18 October. Relative speed at the closest points was 0.15–0.9 m/s, walking pace or slower. Slow walk-past, not a fly-by . ICEYE-X36 did not maneuver. COSMOS 2612 burned away at 12:30 UTC on 18 October, braked on 19 October, and is now holding ~480 km from ICEYE-X36 in the same orbit. We’ve seen this sequence before. COSMOS 2581, 2582 and 2583 (SSC.62902/62903/62904) have been running it against each other since February 2025: raise, phase, drop to co-altitude, close at under half a meter per second, hold, depart, loiter. Since August 2025 we’ve logged more than 170 sub-km conjunction events within that trio, several down to single-digit meters. Until now, every target had been one of their own. This is the first non-cooperative one. @planet4589 @shell_jim @IntegrityISR @ObservableSpace

Quick Update on SJ-31 SJ-31 (SSC.69570) launched 16 Jun from Xichang with a stated mission of space environment detection. Its orbit is Molniya-like, but the high point sits near the equator ~4,100 km above the GEO belt and slowly walks past every GEO longitude. It looks down on the belt without entering it. Where it crosses the equator it stays more than 3,100 km outside equatorial GEO belt with a 2.82 km/s speed difference, so there is no close-approach case. At 28 Sep 12:00 UTC, its apogee was 39,918 km, with 63.5° inclination, 0.69 eccentricity, and 172.0° argument of perigee. The orbit has not changed in the past two weeks. Visualization video includes SJ-31 in inertial frame and example GEO US assets in fixed frame.

USA 325 (SSC.51281) reaches China's TJS-23 (SSC.67226) — its third stop of 2026 After bracketing the Shijian-29A/B pair at 73°E alongside USA 324 in March, then settling in with Russia's COSMOS 2589 at 97.9°E through the spring, USA 325 has crossed the belt to the Western Pacific. COMSPOC sensor data and orbit determination show a familiar profile: departure burns on 3–4 July broke USA 325 out of the 97.9°E slot into a ~3.1°/day eastward drift. Three weeks of unpowered coasting later, several maneuvers between 23 July and 8 August braked the drift near 169°E and walked it into TJS-23's neighborhood at 175.5°E. TJS-23 launched on a CZ-5 from Wenchang in December 2025 and has held 175.5°E ± 0.2° ever since reaching GEO. Officially a communication technology test satellite, it is widely assessed as a SIGINT mission and the slot fits: the footprint from 175.5°E covers the Western and Central Pacific, including major U.S. test ranges and operating areas. With ~6° between their orbit planes, USA 325 crosses TJS-23's plane every 12 hours, and close approaches come at those crossings. The first: 10 August, 22:35 UTC at 14 km, visualized below. Two more have followed so far. Three approaches in 36 hours is the tell. We'll continue monitoring in the coming days. @planet4589 @shell_jim @IntegrityISR @SpaceNews_Inc @ObservableSpace #space #satellite

Shijian-31: a satellite with an orbit we have never seen before China launched Shijian-31 on June 16 from Xichang, officially described as a "space environment detection" mission. The orbital elements suggest more going on. The inclination 63.46° sits at the value where perigee advance goes to zero. Anyone who's tracked Molniya-class satellites will recognize that immediately. But the resemblance stops there. A classic Molniya parks its apogee over high northern latitudes and dwells for hours, that's the whole design premise. SJ-31's argument of perigee is 171°, which puts perigee near the equator and its apogee on the opposite side. (Image 1: SJ-31 at 171° argument of perigee vs. a generic Molniya at 270° argument of perigee.) So the long dwell isn't over any particular latitude — it's over altitude. Apogee reaches ~39,900 km, about 4,100 km above the operational GEO belt where comms and missile-warning satellites sit. Nearly a third of each 12.5-hour orbit is spent above that shell, crossing it twice per pass at a steep 63° angle. (Video 1: SJ-31's orbit visualized with example GEO assets.) It's also not fixed on one region. The period is just off a clean repeating ground track, so the sub-apogee point slowly drifts around the globe — sweeping past every longitude roughly once every 24 days. Net effect: an orbit that periodically looks down on the entire GEO belt from above, at an angle, on a rotating schedule, rather than fixating on one target. What's it actually doing up there? @SpaceNews_Inc @BreakingDefense @joroulette @shell_jim @planet4589 @IntegrityISR

🛰️USA 325 (SSC.51281) and COSMOS 2589 (SSC.64467) — unexpected neighbors With no public orbital data on USA 325 since 6 January 2026, our team turned to COMSPOC's own sensor data to run a pattern-of-life analysis on intriguing behavior of the two. From 25 May to 25 June, we identified the pair lingering at 97.9°E, with separation ranging from 20 to 400 km. COSMOS 2589 performed more than 20 maneuvers and USA 325 performed more than 10, resulting in 20+ conjunctions below 50 km (closest 5.8 km). Check out our collaboration with @GillingerGreg in issue 148 of The Integrity Flash. And the story hasn't paused. From 26 June through 15 July, we tracked more than 15 additional maneuvers from COSMOS 2589, and more than 1 from USA 325 leading to 10+ more conjunctions within 30 km (closest 11.2 km). Both still remain co-located at 97.9°E. Lighting at closest approach strongly favored USA 325 imaging COSMOS 2589, yet the Russian satellite's photometric values repeatedly shifted around those passes. The cause isn't definitive, but the timing could suggest operators adjusting its attitude to hide certain sides from view. Also in the neighborhood, Chinasat 11 (SSC.39157) has maintained its longitude of 97.9° for 2.5+ years giving it an awesome view right in the middle of the action. With additional interesting objects headed to GEO, we'll be watching whether USA 325 holds its position or moves on. #space #satellite @COMSPOC Watch our full analysis below 👇

🛰️ Russian satellites approaching ICEYE: a closer look at the timeline. Tracking data via @LeoLabs_Space . Analysis via COMSPOC SSA. On April 16, Russia launched six maneuverable satellites (Cosmos 2609-2614) from Plesetsk. Five of them — Cosmos 2610, 2611, 2612, 2613, and 2614 — now share the same orbital plane as ICEYE-X36, X37, and X38, all phased out along the orbit. Since then, three Cosmos satellites have made close approaches to ICEYE-X36: May 15: Cosmos-2613 raises inclination May 17 (~48 hrs later): Cosmos-2613 passes ICEYE-X36 at 3.86 km, then 4.73 km May 21+: Cosmos-2614 raises inclination by ~0.82° May 26: Cosmos-2609 passes ICEYE-X36 at 2.54 km May 29: Cosmos-2614 passes ICEYE-X36 at 16 km, then 46.8 km The pattern is notable — inclination changes followed by close passes within days. COMSPOC's MAS (Mission Awareness Services) toolkit indicates that COSMOS 2612 could intercept ICEYE-X36 with a delta V of 4.4 m/s and COSMOS 2614 could perform proximity operations with ICEYE-X37 with a 48.0 m/s delta V, assuming a timespan of one day if the maneuver occurs on July 16. (See chart below) Context: ICEYE is a Finnish company operating a SAR constellation that provides all-weather, day/night imagery. Since August 2022, one ICEYE satellite has been supplying Earth observation data to Ukraine — which specific satellite is not publicly known. Ukraine also has access to the wider ICEYE constellation. At ranges under 5 km, possible missions could include close inspection, electronic warfare (support/attack), or intelligence gathering. The intent remains unclear, but the pattern of deliberate maneuvers followed by close approaches is worth watching. @SpaceNews_Inc @SpaceflightNow @BreakingDefense #Russia #Ukraine #ICEYE #Counterspace #SSA

Pakistan's PRSC-EO3: an unusual orbit for an optical satellite Radar tracking via @LeoLabs. Processed via COMSPOC SSA. PRSC-EO3 (visualized in cyan) launched April 25, 2026 on a Long March 6. It's an optical imager — but its orbit is curious. Most optical LEO satellites use sun-synchronous orbits (~97-105° inclination), which provide consistent lighting for imaging. PRSC-EO3 is in a 38° inclined orbit instead. This sacrifices global coverage and consistent lighting, but increases revisit rates over a specific latitude band: 20-40°N. That's India, Kashmir, and Pakistan. Now consider PRSC-S1 (visualized in pink), Pakistan's SAR satellite launched July 2025, sitting in a 41° orbit. Similar inclination, similar altitude — but their RAANs are ~175° out of phase. When one passes over South Asia in daylight, the other passes in darkness. SAR works day and night. Optical needs sunlight. The geometry appears to allow complementary coverage. We ran the access analysis [Image 1]. The SAR sensor (unconstrained) and optical sensor (daytime-constrained) together provide repeatable revisit across day and night. The gaps left by one are filled by the other. Then there's PRSC-HS1 — a hyperspectral satellite in SSO [Image 2], capable of detecting camouflage and identifying materials from orbit. Optical shows you the picture. SAR shows you the picture at night and through weather. Hyperspectral tells you what you're looking at. Five remote sensing satellites in 16 months [Image 2]. All launched by China. All with orbits favoring South Asian coverage. The stated missions are civilian. The orbital architecture appears consistent with a multi-modal ISR constellation. @shell_jim , @planet4589, @joroulette, @SpaceNews_Inc , @IntegrityISR #Pakistan #Space #SAR #ISR #PRSC

👀USA 325 keeps an eye on COSMOS 2589 as it settles into GEO COSMOS 2589 🇷🇺 (launched last June) spent the past few weeks circularizing its orbit before parking at ~98°E. USA 325 🇺🇸 (GSSAP-6) was watching the whole time. Things got interesting around April 19th when COSMOS 2589 actually drifted past USA 325 mid-maneuver. USA 325 repositioned, and by late April both were sitting at the same longitude. From there, observation passes came twice a day due to their different inclinations. Closest was ~13 km on 1 May, with sun angles lining up nicely for a good look. 3D visualization attached — you can really see how COSMOS 2589 tightened its orbit while USA 325 adjusted to stay in position. This is what GSSAP does: when something new shows up in GEO, they're there to take a look. Analysis via COMSPOC SSASuite. @SpaceNews_Inc @SpaceflightNow @BreakingDefense @joroulette @shell_jim @planet4589 #GSSAP #COSMOS #GEO #SDA

🛰️Russian satellites multi-object proximity event in LEO Radar tracking data via @LeoLabs_Space, processed through COMSPOC SSA Suite. This week we observed a complex proximity event involving Russian satellites: COSMOS 2581, 2582, 2583, and Object F (a subsatellite released by 2583). The highlight: COSMOS 2581 and 2583 achieved a closest approach of ~3 meters on 28 April at UTC, with near-zero relative velocity. This wasn't a coincidental pass — COSMOS 2583 performed several fine maneuvers to maintain this tight configuration. Meanwhile, COSMOS 2582 trailed the formation at sub-100 km range, while Object F passed within 15 km of 2582 and within 10 km of 2581 — neither maneuvered. For context: in late 2025 to now, we tracked these same COSMOS satellites performing 3-object RPO. These satellites launched 5 February 2025. Whatever Russia is testing, it's sophisticated. @SpaceNews_Inc @SpaceflightNow @BreakingDefense @joroulette @shell_jim @planet4589 #RPO #SSA #Russia #Space

🛰️ GEO INSPECTION EVENT: US satellites hand off on China's SJ-29 pair For 4 days from 14-18 March, USA 324 and USA 325 (GSSAP) positioned themselves on opposite sides of China's Shijian-29A & 29B — a coordinated "bracket" providing observation angles from both east and west, followed by a handoff for continuous watch on the Chinese pair. USA 324 (GSSAP-5) drifted east and executed two drift-stop burns on 14 March, parking itself at 73.0°E. By 19 March it had closed to ~63 km range from SJ-29A. USA 325 (GSSAP-6) had been positioned near the SJ-29 pair since early January 2026, not long after the Chinese launch. On 18 March it executed its final departure burn and is now drifting east at +0.69°/day, currently at 78.4°E as of 1800Z on 25 March. SJ-29A & SJ-29B (launched Dec 2025) are stationed at 73.19°E and 73.25°E respectively. China describes them as space target detection technology demonstrators — essentially space situational awareness platforms. This coordinated handoff — USA 325 departing as USA 324 arrives — suggests the SJ-29 pair remain a high priority for the GSSAP constellation. Inspectors watching the inspectors. #GSSAP #SpaceSituationalAwareness #GEO #satellite

Hey LUCH, How's the New Neighborhood? In our July update, we reported on the Russian satellite, LUCH-5X's (SSC.55841) continuous activity near INTELSAT-39 (SSC.44476) at 62°E. Since then, we've also observed that its predecessor LUCH, commonly known as Olymp (SSC.40258), has been conducting maneuvers since 22 August 2025. These maneuvers were executed to halt its eastward drift that began in March 2025. As a result, LUCH has stopped its drift at 65.5°E. This new location places LUCH adjacent to INTELSAT-17 (SSC.37238) at 66.0°E, which provides crucial C/Ku band communications over Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. LUCH's relocation near INTELSAT-17 aligns with public speculation of its mission: Conducting SIGINT operations by positioning itself near commercial satellites to potentially intercept uplinked transmissions. #SatelliteOperations #SpaceSecurity #SpaceDomainAwareness #Intelsat

Over the weekend, USA 324, maneuvered into the 152 °E neighborhood—“checking out” its new neighbors TJS-16 and TJS-17. USA 324 made two close passes— ~17 km to TJS-16 (26 Apr 14:45 UTC) and ~12 km to TJS-17 (29 Apr 13:40 UTC)— before settling down near 152.8 °E.