By BlueShift | 2025-12-05

Russian President Vladimir Putin officially opened a National Space Center complex in Moscow on September 13, amid rising international concern about the nation's aggressive and unpredictable activity in space.

Around 22 rocket and space industry enterprises were expected to move to the complex, which will house Roscosmos's central office, design bureaus and development factories, Interfax reported.

The complex -- estimated cost 24 billion RUB ($290 million) -- opened as Russia's space program faces a crisis, with the war in Ukraine diverting funding from many agencies and crippling the country's economy.

While the Kremlin touted the move, made on Putin's orders, a number of nations have expressed concerns about Russia's space activity, which includes espionage, direct attacks on satellites and electronic warfare operations.

Russian satellites have been stalking British military satellites, which also face jamming attempts from ground-based systems, UK Space Command leader Maj. Gen. Paul Tedman told the BBC in October.

German defense minister Boris Pistorius has said Russian satellites are stalking German military satellites, while the United States accuses Russia of jamming its military satellites and of deploying satellites that can fire projectiles in orbit.

'Matryoshka satellites'

On June 28, the Russian satellite Kosmos-2558 deployed a previously unannounced subsatellite as it flew in close proximity to the USA 326 reconnaissance satellite, UNITED24 Media reported.

US officials and analysts suspect the subsatellite could be part of a weapons-testing platform, possibly equipped with anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities.

"Although these missions are officially described as inspection operations, I’ve repeatedly expressed concerns that we’re actually witnessing the deployment of dormant anti-satellite systems," said space tracking expert Marco Langbroek.

"Personally, I find it strange that a Russian satellite has been trailing one of America’s most valuable space assets for over three years," said Langbroek, who lectures at the Delft Technical University in the Netherlands.

"What more is there to ‘inspect’ at this point?"

This is the third time in the last five years that Russian military satellites have released subsatellites -- dubbed "matryoshka satellites" -- that stack inside each other like the Russian nesting dolls, he noted.

Moscow has tested "matryoshka satellites" since 2017, using a primary satellite to release a secondary satellite to conduct reconnaissance and close-proximity operations, according to the US Space Force (USSF).

During the same timeframe, it has launched several satellites engaged in rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), according to several reports.

These maneuvers, involving the deliberate approach of one satellite toward another, raise concerns about espionage and attacks on targeted satellites.

In the military sphere, a satellite moving within 10km of another is considered highly provocative and potentially dangerous.

Russia also has developed a "grappling" satellite that can grab and tow other satellites out of their orbit.

Hackers and jammers

As Russia held its Victory Day parade on May 9, hackers backing the Kremlin hijacked an orbiting satellite that provides television service to Ukraine, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Ukrainian television was interrupted by military parade footage beamed in from Moscow that showed waves of tanks, soldiers and weaponry, it said, in a message that was clearly designed to intimidate.

US national security officials say Russia is developing a nuclear, space-based weapon designed to take out virtually every satellite in low-Earth orbit at once.

The weapon would combine an attack that would ripple outward, destroying more satellites, with a nuclear component used to fry their electronics, per AP.

In April, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also raised concerns that Russia may be exploring the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

The European Union had in January warned that Russia may face sanctions should it make any attacks in space, pointing to recent hostile actions.

Since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, it has been suspected of jamming GPS signals across parts of Europe and over the Baltic and Black Seas, as well as Ukraine.

Reports suggest these operations are conducted by Russian electronic warfare units, including Krasukha-S4 and Tobol systems stationed in Kaliningrad.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has been warning since the start of the war that Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signal disruptions have intensified.

Russia also is believed to be developing ground-based anti-satellite weapons, including missiles and directed-energy weapons, according to USSF.

In 2021, Russia "tested a direct ascent anti-satellite missile on one of its own spacecraft, destroying it and creating a massive debris field," it said.