Controversial Russian satellite involved in nuclear row is 'spinning out of control'

Russia’s Cosmos 2553 satellite being launched in February 2022 from the Plesetsk military cosmodrome in northern Russia (Picture: Roscosmos.east2west news)

A controversial Russian satellite that US officials suspect is linked to nuclear anti-satellite nuclear weapons appears to be ‘spinning uncontrollably’.

It’s thought Cosmos 2553,which Russia launched into space shortly before the country invaded Ukraine in 2022,is no longer functioning.

Believed to be a radar satellite for Russian intelligence as well as a radiation testing platform,Cosmos 2553 last year became the centre of US allegations that Russia has been developing a nuclear weapon capable of destroying entire satellite networks.

This would include Elon Musk’s Starlink internet system used by Ukraine during the war.

Vladimir Putin,however,rejected the accusations and claimed the satellite was for research purposes.

The satellite has had various bouts of what appears to be errant spinning and tumbling over the past year,according to Doppler radar data from space-tracking firm LeoLabs and optical data from Slingshot Aerospace.

‘This observation strongly suggests the satellite is no longer operational,’ the Centre for Strategic and International Studies,a Washington-based think tank,said in its annual Space Threat Assessment.

The US suspect the satellite is being used to aid Russia’s development of a nuclear anti-satellite weapon (Picture: Roscosmos; east2west news)

U.S. Space Command,which tracks objects in space and has condemned Russian military satellites in the past,said it was aware of a change in Cosmos 2553’s altitude but declined to provide further assessment on its current state.

U.S. officials suspect that while the satellite itself is not a weapon,it is being used to aid Russia’s development of a nuclear anti-satellite weapon.

Slingshot,whose global telescope network has been tracking the spacecraft since its February 5,2022,launch,detected movements in May 2024.

‘Slingshot noted that the object’s brightness became variable,indicating a potential tumble,’ a company spokesperson said.

But according to Slingshot’s latest observations,Cosmos 2553 appears to have stabilised,according to Belinda Marchand,the company’s chief science officer.

Russia,a U.S. Space Command spokesperson said,has claimed Cosmos 2553’s mission is to test on-board instruments in a high-radiation environment,‘but this does not align with its characteristics’.

‘This inconsistency,paired with a demonstrated willingness to target U.S. and allied on-orbit objects,increases the risk of misperception and escalation,’ the spokesperson said.