The mysterious Russian space satellite entered a new orbit near the secret American spy satellite.
According to media, this allows the Russian Cosmos – 2542 to closely monitor the US X-11, an orbiting satellite worth $ 4 billion, taking high-resolution images of the Earth in the interests of the US military. American space operators can do little about it.
US is annoyed that in peacetime they are being watched by Russians. In wartime, this could be a prelude to an attack.
“Cosmos – 2542” is what is called an “inspection satellite.” Equipped with sensors and engines, a satellite the size of a mini-fridge can maneuver next to other spacecraft and scan them. Presumably, the compartments of the satellite can hide, not only equipment, but also weapons to destroy enemy spaceships.
A strange satellite was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome back in November 2019 with the Soyuz rocket.
“The purpose of the experiment is to continue the work on assessing the technical condition of domestic satellites,” the Russian Defense Ministry sparingly said.
But in the United States, it was believed that the American satellite was the real target. The initial orbit of Cosmos-2542 allowed it to travel within a few hundred kilometers of the X-11 every 11 or 12 days.
Between November 2019 and January 2020, Cosmos-2542 kept a respectful distance from X-11, while the US National Intelligence Agency satellite went about its business.
Then, in mid-January, Cosmos-2542 passed near the American satellite. Instead of flying further, as usual, Cosmos-2542 made a series of maneuvers that surprisingly coincided with the orbits of the American satellite.
At such a distance, Cosmos 2542 can probably take fairly detailed photographs of the X-11. The relative orbit, according to American experts, was laid out very cleverly and allows you to take pictures of the American satellite from two sides.
On the other hand, in the USA they are perplexed that they can give Russians simple pictures of their apparatus (unless of course the apparatus still performs some secret actions).
It is well known that X-11s use lenses of the same type as NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which indicates serious reconnaissance capabilities of the X-11.
According to American military experts, since 2014, Russia has deployed several mysterious inspection satellites.
China, Japan, Sweden and the United States also launched their own inspection apparatus.
The mysterious U.S. Air Force X-37B mini-shuttle may be the most famous spacecraft with inspection capabilities.
All these ships, hypothetically, can carry weapons.
Some in the United States say that Russia may be preparing for war by Maneuvering Cosmos-2542 to spy on an American spy satellite.
The X-11s are not known to have any defensive systems. Therefore, satellite operators can do little with the Russian intruder, except to grumble at the Russians at the UN, an American publication has concluded.
