MOSCOW. Sept 18 (Interfax) - Roscosmos is working on a project to create a new inspection satellite, according to data from the SPARK-Marketing system.
The state corporation is looking for a contractor to draft "a tactical design specification for a prototype of a prospective space system with a maintenance spacecraft to service space satellites on geo-stationary orbits," according to the tender documents.
The project deadline is November 15, 2020.
A spacecraft's inspecting capability shall mean its ability to maneuver in outer space in order to approach other space objects. Inspections could be carried out both for peaceful purposes (an outward inspection of objects, refueling, and repairing satellites) and for military ones (some type of satellite interference, for example).
In August, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it was testing inspection and registration satellites in space. Four Kosmos satellites (2535, 2536, 2537, and 2538) 3were launched from Plesetsk on July 10.
According to the military, Kosmos-2535 and Kosmos-2536 are designed to "research the impact on spacecraft from the Russian orbital grouping of artificial and natural outer-space factors, and test run the technologies for their protection and orbital maintenance."
The United States is concerned that a Russian inspection satellite could threaten it in space. An intelligence report said that inspection satellites could be used for carrying out attacks on other countries' satellites and for their temporary or total neutralization.