- To assess what the satellite is capable of doing
- To geolocate where signals from Earth are originating
- To analyse patterns of multi-spot beam steering and bandwidth re-allocation
- Test denial of service attacks
- Test attacks where signals (or return signals) from Earth are manipulated (e.g. radar signatures faked)
- Test attacks where signals (or return signals) from the satellite are manipulated
- Eavesdrop on unprotected communications
- To waste fuel on the target satellite as it maneuvers to avoid any of the above (even if nothing is attempted)
- To make the other party second guess their technology for no good reason, lowering their confidence in its accuracy or usefulness
I'm sure there are plenty of other possible explanations which could be added to this list.
For military satellites, proximity avoidance is fully autonomous. Therefore, you can design a satellite to chase other satellites to fuel exhaustion. I’ve been told this is an actual thing.