Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›OBJECT D ⟷ STARLINK-6041
HighCross-border
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 11 min before the pass.
Closest approach4 Nov 202615:23 UTC
Relative speed14.46 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude452 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed4 Nov15:12 UTC · final forecast

CN OBJECT D and US STARLINK-6041 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 7.26 km at 2026-11-04 15:23 UTC, at a relative speed of 14.46 km/s. Final forecast, made 11 min before the pass. This is a cross-border encounter between objects of different nations, the kind of event closely watched for space-security implications. Miss distance and time of closest approach are computed by propagating the latest published orbital elements for both objects, and each pass is re-checked every 20 minutes as new element sets are published. See the Satellite Maneuver Tracker for the live picture and space situational awareness for context.

Why it mattersBoth objects are catalogued as payloads. Screening continues as new element sets arrive; operators act on their own conjunction data.

The Two Objects

Dossiers from the satellite directory
OBJECT DPayload
NORAD 100369
CountryPRC
Launched2026-08-17
COSPAR2026-188D
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 56478
CountryUS
Launched2023-05-10
COSPAR2023-064AG
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 452 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 452 km this pass sits in low Earth orbit. Objects here stay up for decades: there is too little atmospheric drag to clean the band naturally. Why crowded bands matter →

History Between This Pair

1 predicted pass under 10 km
Pair history · OBJECT D ⟷ STARLINK-6041
2026-11-04 15:237.26 km Final forecast14.46 km/s452 kmShown above

Repeat encounters are common for objects in near-intersecting orbital planes. Each pass is re-screened as fresh element sets arrive; "Final forecast" means the screening still predicted it within 45 minutes of its time, "Not re-confirmed" means later screening stopped finding it.

Forecast Record

Every figure published for the pass shown above, newest first. Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.
Computed · figure · predicted time · orbit data · by
4 Nov 12:32 UTC7.26 km Forecast4 Nov 15:23 UTC4 Nov 02:00 UTCRe-check
4 Nov 12:13 UTC9.87 km Forecast4 Nov 15:23 UTC4 Nov 02:00 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
560 m11-04 16:29 UTC
OBJECT DSTARLINK-2510
3.38 km11-04 21:59 UTC
OBJECT DSTARLINK-4279
7.73 km11-04 13:56 UTC
OBJECT DFLOCK 4BE-5

How These Numbers Are Computed

Miss distance and TCA come from propagating the latest published orbital elements for both objects and searching for the minimum separation over the screening window. Element sets carry kilometre-scale uncertainty, so figures here describe a close pass, not a collision prediction; a change in either object's published elements re-computes the pass automatically. What is a conjunction? → How conjunction assessment works →