The USA has detected an object in space behaving strangely. It has also located the source that released it: Russia.

In space, each new mysterious object, like the one released by Kosmos 2583, adds another layer of tension to the technological and military rivalry in orbit. Last year there was a piece of information that made it official that the rhetoric of “space war” was a fact. It was known, in some cases it was suspected, that the United States, Russia and China had moved their confrontations hundreds of kilometers from Earth through their satellites. However, in December any hint of doubt was cleared up: the United States was laying the foundations for a military attack in space. Now they have detected something unusual, and its source comes from Moscow.

First it was surveillance. In March, CNN reported that the Pentagon had stepped up surveillance of Russian and Chinese space activities in the face of growing evidence that both powers are testing new offensive capabilities in orbit. According to US defense officials at the time, Russia had carried out coordinated satellite exercises simulating attack and defense tactics, including maneuvers in which several satellites surround and isolate another, demonstrating a possible scenario for neutralizing enemy spacecraft.

China, for its part, had carried out similar maneuvers, including the close formation of satellites and offensive approach practices, actions that reinforce suspicions about the growing militarization of outer space.

Three satellites and a stranger. This is how we come to the news these days. Russia has launched three highly secretive satellites (Kosmos 2581, 2582 and 2583) into space, rekindling concerns about a possible preparation for space warfare. On February 2, the satellites were sent into orbit on board a Soyuz rocket, with Moscow revealing no details about their purpose.

Not only that. In addition to the unusual maneuvers they have carried out since their deployment, there has been the recent appearance of a mysterious object, possibly released by the Kosmos 2583 satellite on March 18, whose strange path has led analysts and intelligence agencies in the West to observe it with concern. The US Space Force has already catalogued the new object, while some speculation suggests that these satellites could be practicing orbital “attack and defense” tactics, designed to isolate or neutralize enemy satellites in the event of a future conflict.

Theories. Although astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center has qualified alarmist interpretations by considering that the maneuvers observed may simply be due to similar orbits, recent history also reinforces skepticism.

In 2022, Russia had already launched Kosmos 2558 on the same orbital trajectory as a US military satellite, which was interpreted as an act of space espionage. The geopolitical context and the Kremlin’s track record in the field of covert technologies raise suspicions that this new trio of satellites may be carrying out surveillance missions, interception tests or trials of anti-satellite technologies, although for now there is no conclusive evidence of hostile actions.

The “conquest” of space. As we said at the beginning, the maneuvers attributed to the Kosmos 2581-2583 satellites are part of a broader scenario in which both Russia and China are exploring new orbital combat capabilities. Recent reports by CNN quote US Defense Department officials as saying that both countries are conducting military training in low orbits, a key area due to its proximity to Earth and its frequent use for communication, reconnaissance and intelligence satellites.

This trend reinforces fears that space is becoming a new field of strategic confrontation, one in which the powers develop technologies to disable, interfere with or even destroy enemy space assets.

Uncertainty and vigilance. At the time of writing, the nature and function of the object released in March has not been determined with certainty, which increases the tension surrounding this trio of satellites. McDowell explained that between February 25 and March 14, proximity operations were recorded between the satellites, and that two of them passed close to Kosmos 2583 on March 7, although it could not be confirmed whether there was an attempt at offensive coordination.

Even so, the US Space Force is keeping a close eye on the movements and orbital patterns of these devices, given the possibility that they are covert tests of new military capabilities in space, a dimension that is no longer purely scientific or commercial, but also tactical.

The challenge of “interpreting”. In the background, a problem that until now had not taken place in space, that of the opacity of nations regarding the missions of their satellites and the repeated use of covert technologies in their space operations that make it difficult to obtain certainties. In an environment where the simple act of sharing orbits or making approaches between satellites can have both innocuous and aggressive purposes, analysts, in this case from the United States, must move between caution and prevention.

As we have already explained, while calls to establish clear international norms for behavior in space multiply, Washington and its allies already consider space dominance an active strategic theater, and each new mysterious object, like the one recently released by Kosmos 2583, adds another layer of tension to the technological and military rivalry in orbit.