🌐 MORNING WATCH | NOV. 6 🇷🇺 A Russian military satellite came dangerously close to a Western commercial spacecraft used to support Ukraine, according to a Reuters investigation published Thursday. Cosmos 2612 maneuvered to within roughly a kilometer of Finnish company ICEYE's X36 radar satellite in mid-October. Some tracking estimates put the separation at just a few hundred meters. Space analyst Greg Gillinger described the encounter as a possible rehearsal for an attack. Germany's military space commander, Michael Traut, cautions that such maneuvers can also serve inspection, surveillance or interference. ICEYE says X36 remains operational. Two other Russian satellites, Cosmos 2611 and 2613, are now moving into orbital configurations that could allow similar approaches to another ICEYE satellite, X37. Neither has completed a comparable close encounter. Russia has demonstrated precise maneuvering around a commercial satellite. 🇺🇦 🇷🇺 Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the reported death toll from Russia's November 2 bombing of a humanitarian aid distribution site in Komyshuvakha has risen to 53, according to regional authorities. Rescue teams are still searching the wreckage for a fifth consecutive day. The final toll remains uncertain.

Of interest in the recently cataloged Transporter 18 sats: ICEYE-X83 is cataloged as a US satellite, ICEYE-X85 as Netherlands, and ICEYE-86 as a Swedish one (we knew the Swedish defence agency FMV had a contract for ICEYE sats)

Falcon 9 is getting ready for another massive rideshare mission SpaceX teams have encapsulated 32 payloads for Bandwagon-5 ahead of launch from Florida The mission is targeting October 19 and will carry spacecraft for Earth observation, weather, navigation, communications and even in-space manufacturing Payloads include missions from ICEYE, Capella Space, Planet, Tomorrow. io, Varda, Umbra, Viasat, Xona and more The Falcon 9 booster will also be flying for the 19th time before attempting another landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas SpaceX has turned rideshare launches into routine access to space

Germany's space commander warns russia could wear down Starlink without firing a shot so, remember, continuing to provide aid to Ukraine comes at a very high cost to SpaceX. Maj. Gen. Michael Traut, head of German Space Command, told Reuters that russia's maneuvering of four military satellites close to a Finnish ICEYE radar satellite—which provides battlefield imagery—demonstrates tactics that could shorten the lifespan of Starlink satellites and disrupt service for all users, not just Ukraine. In one "gray-zone" scenario he described, a russian satellite drifts into a Starlink orbital path and breaks apart, forcing fuel-consuming avoidance maneuvers. So, the next time you think SpaceX or Elon Musk aren't doing enough to help Ukraine, remember the immense amount of work, investment, and stress involved in continuing to provide that support.