A space military expert told Reuters that the approach of a Russian military satellite toward the commercial satellite of the Finnish company “ICEYE” could have been an attack exercise.

The “Kosmos 2612” satellite came within less than one kilometer of the “X 36” satellite in mid-October; the satellite provides radar images to governments and Western militaries, including Ukraine.

Greg Gelinger, an analyst at the American company “inTegRity I.S.R.”, described the maneuver as similar to an attack drill. The United States also characterized the behavior of the Russian satellite as consistent with weapons-in-orbit operations.

Two other related Russian satellites are also moving closer to the orbital path of another satellite from the same company.

However, Germany’s space commander warned that publicly available orbital data is not sufficient to determine an intent to attack.

Russia did not respond to a request for comment, and ICEYE said its satellite remains operational.

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