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Issue 136

08 Flash · Free Issue · Integrity Flash 2025 · Members Only

Jack’s Astro Corner: Meet Lieutenant Clohessey Wiltshire

by Jack Anthony COMSPOC did a fabulous analyses and explanations and provided some very insightful videos for the 10 Nov 2025 FLASH . I was particularly intrigued with the Cosmos 2581/2582/2583 article and video. Whether you are new to astrodynamics and RPO OR are steeped in this important aspect of Space Domain…

Author Greg Gillinger Published December 22, 2025

by Jack Anthony

COMSPOC did a fabulous analyses and explanations and provided some very insightful videos for the 10 Nov 2025 FLASH. I was particularly intrigued with the Cosmos 2581/2582/2583 article and video. Whether you are new to astrodynamics and RPO OR are steeped in this important aspect of Space Domain Awareness (SDA), this article and videos are excellent to learn and comprehend the “what’s going on here.” To that end, here is a short “briefing” by fictitious US Space Force Lt…his name is awesome & he is into RPO big time! ?For those who missed it here is the COMSPOC VIDEO.

  • “Hello, my name is Lt Clohessey Wiltshire, I am a Guardian who absolutely enjoys reading the Integrity Flash and especially articles where COMSPOC experts dive into a foreign RPO event. I also wake up each day and do the ”Orbital Element Dance” to get my astro motor running!I am going to brief you on a very interesting RPO that occurred on 25 Oct 2025 involving Russian Cosmos 2581 as the Target and Cosmos 2583 as the Chaser. Both spacecraft are orbiting the Earth in pretty much a circular orbit at 585 Km. The video shows 3 Cosmos 2583 “laps” of 2581. By laps I mean “circumnavigations.” Each lap takes about 96 minutes, which is the orbit period of this Russian spacecraft. You will want to focus on 2 things: 1) the path of 2583 about 2581 and in the upper left, the time and distance between the Chaser relative to the target. Each “lap” in the videos takes about 8 seconds. Keep in mind in real time, a lap is 96 minutes. Bet you knew that! This video is speeded up more than 700X. Before we dive into the COMSPOC video, let’s ensure we understand how I will describe the position of the Chaser (2583) relative to the Target (2581). I made an illustration to introduce and explain the “RIC” coordinate frame used in describing relative motion (see graphic). I’ll be using the terms R-bar and V-bar, so be sure to digest the RIC frame.


  • If you really want to ramp up or refresh your Relative Motion knowledge, watch my two YouTube videos on Relative Motion and re-set the foundation for understanding effects of Radial, In-Track and Crosstrack single impulse maneuver effects, these are 12-minutes each and fun and informative, really!Video 1 (intro to RIC, Radial and InTrack relative motion)

    Video 2 (Cross track motion)

    OK, let’s play the video and I will stop it after each circum nav….are you ready? Here goes!

    • START video and play to 8 seconds. 2583 is about 2 km on +V bar at the start, it rises relative 2581 and when at about at the +R bar we see it turn Red, that’s a maneuver. It appears to me they are shaping the elliptical shaped relative orbit of 2583. Maybe setting up the close fly-by we’ll see at the end of Rev 2. 2583 returns to +V bar at 1 Km in front. Thus completed first of three relative circumnavs. STOP video at 8 sec. OK, so you see 2583 is flying around 2581, but that maneuver is purposeful, let’s look at Rev 2.
    • START video play to 17 seconds. Here we see 2583 extend to a farther -V bar. Then we see 2583 turn red thus another maneuver 0900Z near the V- bar. The last half of this Rev 2 circumnav has 2583 flying by 2581 on the +V bar at 1001Z or so and pretty darn close, like 80 meters close, whoosh! That’s close. STOP Video at 17 sec. OK, so those 2 maneuvers were purposeful, they were perhaps setting up that sub-100 m fly by!
    • START Video and play to 25 sec conclusion. The final 8 seconds of the video is the 3rd of 3 circumnavs of 2583 about 2581.

    I hope my narration of this excellent COMSPOC video helps you comprehend what’s happening as well as gives you confidence that YOU too can take a RPO related video and play it back for your colleagues or some Generals and help them understand the “what’s going on.” Good luck and thank you.