Has Russia launched a top secret satellite killer?

New Dark Knight up in the sky?

A mysterious object launched by Russian military is being followed by Western space agencies over fears it could be part of a Kremlin project to kill satellites. Object 2014-28E, which was tracked over Guatemala on Monday night by N2YO, has been making unusual movements according to amateur observers. The Financial Times reported that it has been moving towards other Russian space objects and is now being monitored by Norad - the U.S. Military's space defense command.

Some believe that with the deterioration of West-Moscow relations and the revived interest in space weaponry, this could make strategic sense.

This story has a place in the Annals of the Cold War.

Has Russia launched a top secret satellite killer? Amateur observers speculate on mysterious 'Object 2014-28E' in orbit

It would be a really good move by them if they are truly looking to start a war, though there is no telling what other countries have up there that could take it out. This should turn out interesting, but I bet it will be buried quickly if it turns out to be true. Guess we will know if some of those amateur observers report it has disappeared.

isn't this just fear mongering?
just another attempt to keep the cold war...hot? (you cringed, admit it)
does anybody know how these things normally work?
if one place launches a satellite does it have any obligation to tell other countries what the satellite does, or why it was launched? i don't personally think so.
I'm sure america doesn't send out emails telling the rest of the world what they are doing in space, and judging by the article, this is just an attempt to generate the good old "fear the russians" nonsense.
Patricia Lewis pretty much says the following:
"there might be good reasons to launch that satellite, but let me just list the ways satellites can be evil to generated buzz over nothing!"

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

What it's payload is or why it's going up, no.

Announcing a launch, yes.

That's to make sure no one assumes you have decided to launch a first strike with a ICBM.

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

I don't know much about space travel, but wouldn't they need to know the orbits of the satellites to prevent a T-bone type collision with satellites and spacecraft? Do all space agencies have to consult with a specific agency before traveling to space?

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

isn't this just fear mongering?

Yes , it's the daily mail.
This is nothing that America hasn't done in the past but because it's Russia we're all supposed to be concerned.

a reply to: gortex

Exactly.America is allowed to do any damn thing it jolly well pleases,of which a helluva lot is HIGHLY classified and top-secret.We shall not speak of That,no.But WORSE,btw..there's rumours that Mr.Putin made himself a cup of tea this morning.Apparently it was a HUGE cup of tea.Fears abound that he is planning to drown the West in it.The horror..the horror..We should all be terrified of Russia-and more importantly HATE them.Should'nt we now?

The X37B, on the other hand, spent 2 years up there plotting more economical and greener flight paths for Santa's coming mission next month. Nothing secret or harmful at all.

They really are ramping up the scare stories and speculative non-starters now.

Well we did mount a laser on a ship; i could totally see Putin cramming one in a satellite.

Most likely not a satellite killer. Earth's rotation causes satellites launched from Earth orbit in the same direction. A satellite launched this way would have to "chase" its targets, which is no easy task. An effective satellite killer would have to launch towards the Moon, orbit, and come back. That way the killer's trajectory could bring it back in an orbit opposite prospective targets.

Imagine trying to get on a NASCAR track to shoot at other drivers. If you go around the track in the same direction you have to chase the drivers down to shoot at them. But if you go in the opposite direction you can shoot at them as they drive by.

Any satellite that loops around the Moon and returns in a counter orbit would be closely monitored as a potential satellite killer.

a reply to: VictorVonDoom

Why would you have to go around the moon? Why not just launch against the earth's orbit?

I know this would require a lot more fuel but a lot less than needed to leave earth orbit, go to the moon, and back.

a reply to: VictorVonDoom

Couldn't they just use a polar orbit instead of sending it all the way around the moon?

Uhm.....Earth's rotation does not have anything to do with how something orbits the Earth.

What does matter is the object's velocity, altitude and direction it's headed in.

If you launched a 1,000 kg object and place it in a 250 km orbit about the Earth going from west to east, it will take the same amount of fuel and thrust to place the same object in the same 250 km orbit going from east to west.

Orbital Mechanics

I hope this leads to a cold war up in space/ space cold war.

It seem's like war/war readiness is the only way for Technology to actual advance at a large scale nowadays.

a reply to: shaneslaughta

They've done similar things before.

mysteriousuniverse.org...

If you're telling me you think the US, China, and Russia don't have satellite killers already, I laugh at you. I suspect the X37B was testing some kind of weapon as well, perhaps a rail gun or powerful laser. a reply to: maghun

Sounds like a repair drone.
but you could use that to kill to

Well, it's a LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite.

Object 2014-28E is known by the Russians as Kosmos (AKA Cosmos) 2499. Its NORAD ID is 39765.

Some details:
NORAD ID: 39765
Int'l Code: 2014-028E
Perigee: 1,158.5 km
Apogee: 1,510.7 km
Inclination: 82.4 °
Period: 112.2 minutes
Semi major axis: 7705 km
Launch date: May 23, 2014

Source: n2yo .com's page for satellite nr 39765.

They have tracking on the page there, but their track it now page has a bigger live map and shows more live data.

(Note that generally, the "live tracking" is actually an estimate based upon observations and computed orbit parameters.)

Anyway, thought you all might like the info.

originally posted by: eriktheawful
Uhm.....Earth's rotation does not have anything to do with how something orbits the Earth.

What does matter is the object's velocity, altitude and direction it's headed in.

If you launched a 1,000 kg object and place it in a 250 km orbit about the Earth going from west to east, it will take the same amount of fuel and thrust to place the same object in the same 250 km orbit going from east to west.

Orbital Mechanics

It looks like you're right, retrograde orbit is easier to achieve than I thought. It still requires more fuel than an normal orbit, though.

Artificial satellites in retrograde orbit

What I posted before was based on an article I read decades ago. It always stuck in my mind that a satellite would have to loop around the moon to obtain retrograde orbit. I remember the diagrams.

Polar orbits take more fuel, too.

a reply to: maghun

Well, I merely have to state this. The US has released lots of media entertainment with Rods from god, not being a US secret weapon but better yet a super weapon used against the US.

COD ghosts features the Federation striking the US with "rods from god."

GI joe features London being attacked with Rods from god.

various other games and movies feature a very similar scenario.