伦敦/华盛顿，11月5日电 一名军事空间专家表示，一颗俄罗斯军用卫星上个月接近一颗西方商用卫星，可能是在演练攻击，目前有两颗相关的俄罗斯飞行器正朝另一颗西方卫星的方向移动。
LONDON/WASHINGTON, Nov 5 - A Russian military satellite that approached a Western commercial one last month could have been rehearsing an attack, a military space specialist said, with two related Russian craft now heading in the direction of another Western satellite.
美国国务院副国长托马斯·迪纳诺在X平台上就10月中旬的这一事件表示，俄罗斯的“宇宙-2612”军用卫星“故意危险地接近一颗商用卫星”，其行为“与在轨武器行动一致”。被接近的卫星名为X36，由芬兰公司ICEYE运营，为包括乌克兰在内的西方政府和军队提供雷达图像。三位空间专家将此次事件描述为俄罗斯军用航天器在低轨道上接近商用卫星的最近距离已知案例之一。
US Under Secretary of State Thomas DiNanno said on X following the mid-October incident that Russia's Cosmos 2612 military satellite had been "intentionally maneuvering dangerously close to a commercial satellite" in conduct "consistent with on-orbit weapons operations." The satellite approached, called X36, is operated by Finnish company ICEYE and provides radar imagery to Western governments and militaries, including Ukraine. Three space specialists described the incident as one of the closest known approaches by a Russian military spacecraft to a commercial satellite in low altitude orbit.
美国公司Integrity ISR的高级空间分析师格雷格·吉林格表示，此次相遇“看起来像是一次攻击演练”。他对路透社说：“这是我见过的俄罗斯在威胁他国卫星方面采取的最激进姿态。”Integrity ISR为美国太空部队提供培训。
The encounter "looks like an attack rehearsal," said Greg Gillinger, a senior space analyst at Integrity ISR, a US company that provides training to US space forces. "This is the most aggressive posture I've seen Russia take in terms of threatening satellites from another nation," he told Reuters.
俄罗斯国防部未回应置评请求。莫斯科曾多次警告，协助乌克兰的西方商用卫星可能成为合法报复目标。
Russia's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Moscow has repeatedly warned that commercial Western satellites helping Ukraine could become legitimate targets for retaliation.
ICEYE美国业务负责人安·史蒂文斯告诉路透社，X36“一直是并将继续是一颗高产卫星”，其雷达成像卫星星座在发生干扰时具有韧性。
The head of ICEYE's US operations, Ann Stevens, told Reuters X36 "has been and will continue to be a productive satellite" and that its constellation of radar-imaging satellites is resilient in the event of disruption.
轨道武器加剧太空紧张局势 该事件加剧了人们对商业卫星网络脆弱性的担忧，这些网络在军事行动中变得越来越重要。此前几个月，俄罗斯围绕ICEYE的活动引发西方官员警告，称其展示了可能用于威胁或干扰商业星座（包括埃隆·马斯克旗下SpaceX运营的星座）的能力。
ORBITAL WEAPONS RATCHET UP TENSION IN SPACE The episode has fuelled concern over the vulnerability of commercial satellite networks that have become increasingly important to military operations. It follows months of Russian activity around ICEYE that Western officials have warned demonstrates capabilities that could be used to threaten or disrupt commercial constellations, including those operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
曾是美国空军情报军官的吉林格一直在追踪俄罗斯卫星，他说，宇宙2612号似乎正在测试与动能攻击相关的能力，因为如此接近的接近对于情报收集或电子干扰来说并非必要。
Gillinger, a former US Air Force intelligence officer who has tracked the Russian satellites, said Cosmos 2612 appeared to be testing kinetic attack-related capability because such a close approach would not be needed for intelligence collection or electronic interference.
据美国太空情报公司Slingshot Aerospace称，宇宙2612号被公开归类为服务检查卫星。它是俄罗斯4月发射的六颗军事卫星之一。太空分析人士称，5月，俄罗斯将其中四颗定位在X36附近。ICEYE随后移动了其卫星，引发了进一步的俄罗斯机动，ICEYE首席执行官拉法尔·莫日舍夫斯基9月接受路透社采访时表示。
Cosmos 2612 is publicly categorized as a servicing inspection satellite, according to US space intelligence firm Slingshot Aerospace. It is one of six military satellites Russia launched in April. In May, Russia positioned four of them close to X36, space analysts have said. ICEYE subsequently moved its satellite, prompting further Russian maneuvers, Chief Executive Rafal Modrzewski told Reuters in September.
太空分析人士称，10月初，宇宙2612号将自身定位在X36后方数百公里处。随后，它在几天内迅速缩短了距离，在10月中旬左右接近X36至一公里（半英里）以内，一些分析人士称其距离仅几百米或更近。
In early October, Cosmos 2612 positioned itself hundreds of kilometers behind X36, according to space analysts. It then rapidly closed the distance over several days, coming within a kilometer (half a mile) of X36 around mid-October, with some analysts saying it was within a few hundred meters or less.
吉林格表示，宇宙2612号随后移动了大约400公里（250英里）远。他说，两颗俄罗斯“姊妹”卫星目前正朝另一颗ICEYE航天器X37的轨道路径漂移。美国太空跟踪公司COMSPOC也表示，这两颗“姊妹”卫星正变得越来越有利地定位以接近X37。根据公开的太空物体目录，X36和X37均为美国注册。
Cosmos 2612 subsequently moved about 400 km (250 miles) away, Gillinger said. Two sibling Russian satellites are now drifting toward the orbital path of another ICEYE spacecraft, X37, he said. U.S. space-tracking firm COMSPOC also said the two siblings were becoming increasingly well positioned to approach X37. Both X36 and X37 are US-registered, according to public space-object catalogs.
德国太空司令官特劳特少将向路透社表示，像宇宙2612号这样近距离接近的行为，可能用于检查、观察或干扰，具体取决于航天器的技术能力。
Germany's space commander, Major General Michael Traut, told Reuters that close approaches like Cosmos 2612's could be used for inspection, observation or interference, depending on a spacecraft's technical capabilities.
“因此我们必须考虑可能影响的整个范围，从暂时干扰卫星运行到永久使其瘫痪，”他说。
"We must therefore consider the entire spectrum of possible effects, ranging from temporarily disrupting a satellite's operations to permanently disabling it," he said.
他警告称，具备执行此类机动的能力本身并不是俄罗斯正在准备或演练攻击的证据，并且仅凭公开的轨道数据无法确定其目的。
He cautioned that the ability to perform such maneuvers was not in itself evidence that Russia was preparing or rehearsing an attack, and said its purpose could not be determined from publicly available orbital data alone.
大国正在为冲突可能延伸至太空做准备。华盛顿最近承认已在轨道部署武器，而美国太空司令部司令今年早些时候表示，俄罗斯已部署一件可触及美国关键国家安全卫星的太空武器。
Major powers are preparing for the possibility of conflict extending into space. Washington recently acknowledged that it has deployed weapons in orbit, while the head of US Space Command said earlier this year that Russia had deployed a space weapon within reach of critical US national security satellites.
俄罗斯接近X36“确实提升了攻击的潜在可能性”，无论是蓄意还是无意的互动，英国退役高级空军军官、太空顾问安德鲁·特纳表示。
Russia's approach to X36 "really elevates the potential of an attack" from either deliberate or inadvertent interaction, said Andrew Turner, a space consultant and retired senior British air force officer.