Four Russian satellites now within striking distance of a Finnish ICEYE radar satellite supporting Ukraine
US Space Command has detected that four satellites launched by the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are unusually approaching a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite operated by Finland-based ICEYE that supports Ukraine. The affected ICEYE satellite is capable of imaging the Earth at 30 cm resolution and is currently supplying SAR data to Kyiv's communications and special-targeting operations.
US Space Command General Stephen Whiting said at a Pentagon press conference: 'Each of the four Russian satellites has demonstrated manoeuvre capability within approximately 10 kilometres of the ICEYE satellite. This capability is not common for satellites conducting typical missions; our intelligence assessment indicates a deliberate tracking and potential intervention posture.' Whiting said the United States continues to monitor closely and is briefing allies.
The four Russian satellites — designated Kosmos 2587, 2588, 2589 and 2590 — were launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in February and March 2026. Russia initially announced that the satellites were on 'research and observation' missions, but Russian space analyst Pavel Luzin told the BBC: 'The manoeuvre capability of these satellites is inconsistent with their declared mission; orbital analysis by Pavlin Yatli indicates they are rendezvous-operation satellites.'
ICEYE was founded in 2014 in Helsinki by Pekka Laurila and Rafal Modrzewski. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, ICEYE has supplied $110 million in SAR satellites and data subscription services to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. The company currently has a 38-satellite constellation; 5-7 images are sent to the Ukrainian unit daily. These images are used in particular to track Russian armoured-unit movements, logistics depot locations and the positions of air-defence systems.
ICEYE CEO Rafal Modrzewski told The Verge: 'I can say we are extremely well informed about Russia's move. US and Finnish authorities have been in close coordination with us since 26 May. We are continuing operations; daily SAR imaging for our Ukrainian partners remains uninterrupted.' The company said it could maintain continuous operations even on the affected satellite thanks to two additional satellites available as backups.
The reason rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) of satellites are important in national security is that they signal a potential 'space-based attack vector'. If one satellite can approach another with manoeuvre capability at a 10-km distance, it also has the capacity to conduct kinetic or non-kinetic attacks — for example, blinding the sensor with a laser, broadcasting an electronic jamming signal or direct collision. Brookings Institution space policy expert Brian Weeden told Ars Technica: 'Russia is opening a door with this operation; if it seizes control of the satellite or physically interferes with it, it will be a move that tests questions about how NATO will respond in space.'
In international law, the existing Outer Space Treaty (1967) does not explicitly prohibit hostile acts against satellites. But NATO declared space an 'operational domain' in 2019, which means hostile acts against satellites can be considered within the scope of Article 5 collective defence. Finland joined NATO on 4 April 2023; the ICEYE satellite is the asset of a Finnish company operating under the Finnish flag.
US Space Command said similar manoeuvres by Russia were observed in 2024 but did not progress to a structural attack posture. In a 2024 incident a Russian satellite (Kosmos 2576) approached a US national security satellite, KH-11 4 (Keyhole), but did not advance to an operational attack manoeuvre. The current ICEYE case is the first time Russia has used these capabilities against an 'ally-supporting' commercial actor.
From the Russian side, the head of State Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, said at a press conference: 'The manoeuvre capabilities of Kosmos satellites are part of routine space operations. There is no hostile act against foreign satellites. The exaggerated interpretations from the United States are unacceptable.' He cited earlier US satellite rendezvous operations to justify Russia's own behaviour.
NATO's technical alliance body, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), will meet this weekend with an extraordinary space-security agenda. A special session on space security of the NATO Standing Committee on Monday in Brussels has been confirmed to Reuters by diplomatic sources. Finland's Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said: 'NATO's posture in space requires coordinated political messaging from our allies. We will determine the appropriate course at Monday's meeting.'
For the commercial space sector, the incident clarifies the risk to commercial satellite companies of supporting a war zone. Beyond ICEYE, Maxar Technologies (which supplies imagery to Ukraine), Planet Labs and Capella Space also support Ukraine. Sector analyst Caleb Henry of SpaceNews said: 'The ICEYE incident is a turning point. Other commercial satellite companies can expect insurance premiums to rise and may face pressure to develop their own defensive capabilities over the long term.' After similar incidents in the past, sector security has become an economic issue; how the current operation will be handled in the NATO framework will become clearer in the coming weeks.