On April 28, 2026, the Russian spacecraft COSMOS 2581 and COSMOS 2583 made a startlingly close pass, coming within barely 10 feet (3 meters) of one another.
For perspective, these things are moving at around 17,000 mph. A gap of 10 feet at that speed is almost the equivalent of two fighter planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip in orbit.
What this tells us about their capabilities:
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Precision Engineering: This was not some "flyby." Tracking data from companies such as COMSPOC indicated that COSMOS 2583 executed “fine maneuvers” to maintain that precise position. This demands extremely sophisticated propulsion and self-guided devices.
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Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO): This course is a masterclass in RPO. It demonstrates Russia’s capacity to approach, shadow and maintain formation with other objects in space.
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Dual Use Technology: These talents are theoretically needed for things like “space tugs” (refueling or repairing satellites), but are more often looked at as “inspector satellite” capabilities. This demonstrates that they are able to approach close enough to another country's satellite to take pictures of it, listen in on its signals, or even physically destroy it.
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Test Multi-Object Coordination: A third satellite, COSMOS 2582, and a subsatellite, “Object F,” were included in the test. This suggests they are not merely flying one vessel, but are synchronizing a “cluster” of assets concurrently and that is a degree of competence that only a handful of space powers have now.
Read full article here: What is COSMOS Testing