LondonA £15 million orbital warfare contract was signed 29 September.

Russia’s Kosmos 2612 recently approached within about 500 metres of a Finnish commercial satellite, LeoLabs said.

Rendezvous and proximity operations serve debris removal and inspection, and can also threaten spacecraft.

The Ministry of Defence and Astroscale have not disclosed what the spacecraft will do or when it launches.

How each outlet framed it
European Spaceflight
uses a regulatory filing to show the £15m LEDA contract was signed 29 September, a month before its public announcement

Sources: European Spaceflight