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Space

Science

Andrew Jones

Russian 'inspector' satellite appears to break apart in orbit, raising debris concerns

Russia United States Jonathan McDowell GEO Earth

An illustration of a cylindrical satellite breaking apart into multiple pieces above earth.

A Russian satellite once used to inspect other spacecraft appears to have disintegrated in a graveyard orbit high above the Earth, according to ground-based imagery.

The Luch/Olymp satellite, launched in 2014, is one of two secretive military Russian satellites that have been used to stalk spacecraft from the US and others in the geostationary belt (GEO), around 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above the equator. Luch/Olymp (NORAD catalog number 40258) had recently been decommissioned and sent into a graveyard orbit a few hundred miles above GEO in October 2025.

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