Western space agencies have started tracking a mysterious object launched by Russian military over fears that it could possibly be part of a Kremlin project built to kill satellites, The Financial Times reported.
Witnessed making unusual movements over Guatemala on Monday night by amateur observers, Object 2014-28E has since traveled towards other Russian space objects and is currently being monitored by Norad, the U.S. Military's space defense command.
Initially, the object was reported to have been propelled into orbit as part of a Russian rocket launch in May, hoping to serve as space debris for three other Rodnik communications satellites that make up an existing military constellation.
However when Russia failed to make an announcement of the object's launch, it immediately prompted concerns of being used as part of another motive.
In separate theories, it was alleged to either be a method for fixing broken orbiters or a civilian project used to collect "space junk," according to UK MailOnline.
"Whatever it is, [Object 2014-28E] looks experimental. It could have a number of functions, some civilian and some military. One possibility is for some kind of grabber bar," Patricia Lewis, research director at think-tank Chatham House, told the FT.
"Another would be kinetic pellets which shoot out at another satellite. Or possibly there could be a satellite-to-satellite cyber-attack or jamming," she said.
However, "it would be odd if space were to remain the one area that [militaries] don't get their hands on," she added, echoing beliefs that the deterioration of West-Moscow relations has led to the country's revived interest in space weaponry, making absolute strategic sense.
"Having the ability to destroy or degrade an opponent's satellite communications has been regarded as a powerful military capability since the space race began but, after the collapse of the iron curtain, many of the secret research projects Soviet and U.S. engineers were working on were quietly shelved," according to the FT. "In the past few years, however, interest in space weapons has revived."
In 1957, the launch of Sputnik 1 made Russia the first nation to put a satellite into orbit. Then in 1989, the anti-satellite program, known as Istrebitel Sputnikov, was closed down after being launched under Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin.
