Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›HULIANWANG DIGUI-220 ⟷ COSMOS 516
HighCross-border
On permanent record
Live forecastConfirmed by the latest screening, 10 Nov 18:48 UTC.
Closest approach11 Nov 202610:45 UTC
Relative speed4.54 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude1,017 kmlow Earth orbit
Separation now—live

CN HULIANWANG DIGUI-220 and RU COSMOS 516 are predicted to reach a closest approach of 4.13 km at 2026-11-11 10:45 UTC, at a relative speed of 4.54 km/s. Confirmed by the latest screening, 10 Nov 18:48 UTC. 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
NORAD 100979
CountryPRC
Launched2026-10-09
COSPAR2026-230G
Maneuver capableUnknown
COSMOS 516Payload
NORAD 6154
CountryCIS
Launched1972-08-21
COSPAR1972-066A
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 1017 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 1017 km this pass sits inside the most congested band in low Earth orbit, home to the debris left by the 2007 ASAT test and the 2009 collision. 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 · HULIANWANG DIGUI-220 ⟷ COSMOS 516
2026-11-11 10:454.13 km Live forecast4.54 km/s1,017 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
10 Nov 14:28 UTC4.13 km Forecast11 Nov 10:45 UTC10 Nov 00:31 UTCRe-check
10 Nov 11:13 UTC4.14 km Forecast11 Nov 10:45 UTC9 Nov 15:48 UTCRe-check
10 Nov 10:53 UTC5.21 km Forecast11 Nov 10:45 UTC9 Nov 15:48 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
2.96 km11-04 21:44 UTC
COSMOS 2184COSMOS 516
3.99 km11-10 10:20 UTC
HULIANWANG DIGUI-220SL-8 R/B
4.14 km11-07 00:59 UTC
HULIANWANG DIGUI-220FENGYUN 1C DEB

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 →

✓ Permanent record. This encounter met the notability thresholds and keeps an archived page after the pass.