{"id":280713,"date":"2025-11-09T05:47:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T05:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/280713\/"},"modified":"2025-11-09T05:47:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T05:47:17","slug":"russian-satellite-that-worried-nato-enters-end-of-life-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/280713\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Satellite That Worried NATO Enters End-of-Life Orbit\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Russian satellite, that previously sparked alarm from NATO member Germany about Moscow\u2019s military intentions in space, is nearing the end of its mission, according to analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kayhan Space, a Colorado-based firm of spaceflight and satellite experts, said it had found that the Luch-Olymp satellite appears to be maneuvering to an end-of-life orbit<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

German defense minister Boris Pistorius said<\/a> in September that two Russian Luch-Olymp reconnaissance satellites were tracking Intelsat satellites used by the German military. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But Kayhan Space said one Luch-Olymp\u00a0was repositioning for its final task, with Kayhan CEO Siamak Hesar, telling Newsweek, \u201cRussia’s capability has been reduced, at least for now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Why It Matters\u00a0<\/p>\n

There have been growing fears about Russia developing satellites as a\u00a0new military domain beyond the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, which could complicate NATO\u2019s efforts at deterrence from its adversaries.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2014, the Luch-Olymp is one of the most closely watched and debated satellites in geostationary orbit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pistorius had raised the alarm at how\u2014along with its 2023 successor\u2014Russian satellites could “eavesdrop” on other satellites, as the minister announced a \u20ac35 billion ($41 billion) space program investment for constellations to withstand jamming and kinetic attacks.<\/p>\n

What To Know\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kayhan said<\/a> that over the course of two weeks in October, Russia\u2019s Luch-Olymp satellite initiated a series of altitude-raising burns, climbing more than 260 miles\u00a0above the protected region and drifting west.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kayhan said that whether it is intentional disposal or a repositioning for its final tasking, the maneuver “brings one of the most agile and enigmatic intelligence assets ever fielded in geostationary orbit closer to the end of its mission lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the last decade, the Russian satellite conducted a series of deliberate proximity operations with commercial and military spacecraft, including Seasat 2, Intelsat 7, Intelsat 901, Intelsat 905, Athena-Fidus, Skynet 4C, Astra 1G, and Turksat 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its persistent \u201cshadowing\u201d of targets marked a new era of on-orbit intelligence collection and drew strong criticism from Intelsat and France in actions that reshaped how operators assess safety, intent, and transparency in geostationary orbit, Kayhan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hesar told Newsweek that in the case of its Luch\/Olymp class\u00a0satellites, Russia’s capability had been temporarily reduced.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, he noted how from 2014 to 2023, Russia only operated one Luch\/Olymp\u00a0satellite\u00a0for intelligence operations. Luch\/Olymp 2 is the successor likely intended to replace the original\u00a0satellite\u00a0as it neared end of life, Hesar said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luch\/Olymp 2 appears designed primarily to sustain those capabilities rather than expand them. Whether Russia adds satellites remains to be seen, but at this point, the replacement maintains continuity rather than increasing capacity, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kayhan Space in a statement: \u201cIn October 2025, the satellite initiated a series of altitude-raising burns….\u00a0the maneuver brings one of the most agile and enigmatic intelligence assets ever fielded in geostationary orbit closer to the end of its mission lifetime.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kayhan Space CEO Siamak Hesar to Newsweek: \u201cRussia’s capability has been reduced, at least for now. However, it’s important to keep in mind that from 2014 to 2023, Russia only operated one Luch\/Olymp\u00a0satellite\u00a0for these types of intelligence operations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What Happens Next\u00a0<\/p>\n

Russia operates other reconnaissance or “inspector”\u00a0satellites, notably within its Cosmos series and recent launches show that it’s likely that Moscow intends to continue developing and deploying inspector-type capabilities, Hesar said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Russian satellite, that previously sparked alarm from NATO member Germany about Moscow\u2019s military intentions in space, is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[3631,110734,5855,1206,13540,79,193,9175,44967],"class_list":{"0":"post-280713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-international-space-station","9":"tag-luch-olymp","10":"tag-nato","11":"tag-russia","12":"tag-satellites","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-space","15":"tag-space-exploration","16":"tag-space-race"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}