Russian 'sat-catcher' can chase down other spacecraft

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30097643

Russian 'sat-catcher' can chase down other spacecraft

Russia may be testing a satellite capable of chasing down other orbiting spacecraft, observers say.

Such technology could be used for a wide variety of uses, including to repair malfunctioning spacecraft, but also to destroy or disable them.

The Kosmos 2499 satellite separated from and then chased down the upper part of the rocket used to launch it.

The Russian mission follows similar on-orbit tests this year carried out by the US and China.

Kosmos 2499 was launched on 25 December 2013 as part of a seemingly routine mission to add new Rodnik communications satellites to an existing constellation.

Previous Rodnik launches had carried a trio of spacecraft, but on this occasion a fourth object was released into orbit.

The US military initially classified the object as debris, but in May 2014, the Russian government told the United Nations that the launch had sent four satellites into orbit instead of three.

In the meantime, satellite observers had seen the object using engines to perform a series of unusual manoeuvres in space that changed its orbit.

These manoeuvres culminated on 9 November with a close approach to part of the rocket that originally launched the satellite into orbit.

According to satellite observer Robert Christy, who has been recording the satellite's movements, Kosmos 2499 appears to have got to within a few tens of metres of the inactive Briz-KM rocket stage.

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[JimC]

Star wars!

Clearly, the west must develop satellites with built in anti-catcher-missiles...

[laklak]

Anti-anti-catcher-missile-missiles. Anti-anti-anti-catcher-missile-missile-missiles. When will it end?!

[piscator]

When the chain reaction debris field generated by the first test renders all usable orbital paths uninhabitable by SVs.

[Seth]

When the chain reaction debris field generated by the first test renders all usable orbital paths uninhabitable by SVs.

Just chuck a rocketload or three of ball-bearings up there, that'll do the job.

[mistermack]

The Swiss are developing a space cleaner, that catches debris and sends it down to burn up in the atmosphere.

Apparently, it has about twenty different tools for different types of debris. Including one for getting stones out of horses hooves.