Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2600 ⟷ STARLINK-38425
HighCross-border
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 14 min before the pass.
Closest approach5 Nov 202614:01 UTC
Relative speed15.30 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude330 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed5 Nov13:47 UTC · final forecast

RU COSMOS 2600 and US STARLINK-38425 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 5.20 km at 2026-11-05 14:01 UTC, at a relative speed of 15.30 km/s. Final forecast, made 14 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
NORAD 67674
CountryCIS
Launched2026-02-05
COSPAR2026-023A
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 101208
CountryUS
Launched2026-10-27
COSPAR2026-244J
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 330 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 330 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

2 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · COSMOS 2600 ⟷ STARLINK-38425
2026-11-05 14:015.20 km Final forecast15.30 km/s330 kmShown above
2026-11-05 13:158.93 km Final forecast15.32 km/s322 kmView →

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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
5 Nov 11:07 UTC5.20 km Forecast5 Nov 14:01 UTC5 Nov 06:07 UTCRe-check
5 Nov 10:47 UTC6.23 km Forecast5 Nov 14:01 UTC5 Nov 06:07 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
7.01 km11-08 09:36 UTC
COSMOS 2600FENGYUN 1C DEB
8.37 km11-08 14:10 UTC
COSMOS 2600FENGYUN 1C DEB
8.41 km11-06 12:22 UTC
COSMOS 2600HAWK-3C

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 →