Space will be the next battle field? If for some years United Stats seems to experiment anti-satellite weapoons in the classified missions of the little heir of the Space Shuttle, the X-37B (recently back to Earth after 718 days spent in the space), even Russia carries out secret activitis, particularly thanks to three mysterious satellites, Kosmos-2491, Kosmos-2499 and Kosmos-2504.

Three mysterious satellites

The three Kosmos satellites were launched between 2013 and 2015 but since then almost anything about them was reported: after stayed inactive, apparently, for over a year, one of the three satellites abandoned its orbit to get at a distance of less than 1,200 meters from a fragment of a Chinese weather satellite that China destroyed in 2007 in the test of an anti-satellites rocket.

This is not the first time the three Kosmos do mysterious manouvers in the space, having approached many times in the last three years a few dozen meters the fragments of their launchers, so that most people think they are technology demonstrators of a Russian anti-satellites weapon. This is the first time, however, that a Kosmos approach fragments of another country's satellite.

Mechanicals or space killer?

The reason for these randez vous could be to carry out scans and analyses of other satellites on orbit, and then eventually repair or supply them. Or, instead, in the future this kind of satellite could be laser-equipped (as the United States wanted to do already in the Eighties) or with explosive, to be able to phisically eliminate the satellites of a rival nation.

United Stetes, China and Russia therefore seems have already started a danger race to military testing in the space: each one, to be true, say the its satellite and spacecraft missions have peaceful objectives and are just for testing new space technologies. But what those technologies are no one wanna let it known, rather accusing others about wanting to develop technologies potentially dangerous for their own interests. If this is not a cold war in the space, it's not far off.