Space war: Russia may be deploying killer satellites as US throttles Ukraine's access
A Russian military satellite, Cosmos 2612, closed to roughly 5km of the Finnish-built ICEYE-X36 radar satellite on October 17, a manoeuvre tracked by LeoLabs as an apparent deliberate approach with unclear intent. SpaceX imposed an unannounced speed cap on Ukraine's military Starshield terminals overnight on October 13-14, disrupting attack and air-defence drone missions, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on October 17 that service had not been fully restored. Russia is developing the Rassvet low-orbit network, which Ukrainian adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov called "danger No. 1" among technological challenges and which is intended to offer round-the-clock broadband in 2027.
Why it matters: The episode places satellite access and reconnaissance within the briefing's military technology theme, where commercial space assets directly shape battlefield capability.