content: Don't downvote the parent comment, it's a good question! Firstly, it lets them create fear and doubt in the U.S. What are they doing? Do they know something we don't? Secondly, it lets them monitor the satellite's radio emissions. The U.S. satellite works using computers. Computers work by switching electric currents at high speeds. That makes radio waves that tell what information the computer is processing. If the satellite's radio shields are not good enough, the Russians can figure out what it is thinking. They might even be able to take over the U.S. satellite. Thirdly, the Russian satellite might be a mother ship. It could send out small satellites to inspect the U.S. satellite. If the Russians are crazy enough, and they might be, they could even send tiny satellites inside the U.S. satellite. Spy satellites are basically like big telescopes: a big tube with a mirror at the back. If you had balls the size of watermelons, you could fly around in there and learn how it worked. I'm going with theory 1. They were screwing with us. Great! Congress will give funding to screw with them. No Russians were harmed I the writing of this post.