Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›USA 32 DEB ⟷ CZ-6A DEB
HighCross-border
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 17 min before the pass.
Closest approach7 Nov 202613:28 UTC
Relative speed10.82 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude774 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed7 Nov13:11 UTC · final forecast

US USA 32 DEB and CN CZ-6A DEB were predicted to reach a closest approach of 1.60 km at 2026-11-07 13:28 UTC, at a relative speed of 10.82 km/s. Final forecast, made 17 min before the pass. This is a cross-border encounter between objects of different nations. 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 mattersNeither object can maneuver: the miss distance will evolve only with natural orbital perturbations, so screening continues until the pass is over.

The Two Objects

Dossiers from the satellite directory
NORAD 101034
CountryUS
Launched1988-09-05
COSPAR1988-078E
Maneuver capableNo
Uncontrolled debris fragment tracked by the public catalogue. About space debris →
CZ-6A DEBDebris
NORAD 60864
CountryPRC
Launched2024-08-06
COSPAR2024-140JT
Maneuver capableNo
Uncontrolled debris fragment tracked by the public catalogue. About space debris →

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 774 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 774 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 · USA 32 DEB ⟷ CZ-6A DEB
2026-11-07 13:281.60 km Final forecast10.82 km/s774 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
7 Nov 12:51 UTC1.60 km Forecast7 Nov 13:28 UTC7 Nov 05:30 UTCRe-check
7 Nov 09:18 UTC1.63 km Forecast7 Nov 13:28 UTC6 Nov 22:51 UTCRe-check
6 Nov 22:14 UTC1.88 km Forecast7 Nov 13:28 UTC6 Nov 12:49 UTCRe-check
6 Nov 14:10 UTC3.75 km Forecast7 Nov 13:28 UTC5 Nov 23:27 UTCRe-check
6 Nov 13:50 UTC4.76 km Forecast7 Nov 13:28 UTC5 Nov 23:27 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
1.45 km11-05 14:43 UTC
USA 32 DEBCBERS 2
1.47 km11-05 17:13 UTC
USA 32 DEBCBERS 2
1.57 km11-10 00:54 UTC
USA 32 DEBIRIDIUM 42

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 →