Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2026 ⟷ COSMOS 887
HighProximity
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 14 min before the pass.
Closest approach29 Oct 202615:45 UTC
Relative speed12.18 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude957 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed29 Oct15:31 UTC · final forecast

RU COSMOS 2026 and RU COSMOS 887 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 3.35 km at 2026-10-29 15:45 UTC, at a relative speed of 12.18 km/s. Final forecast, made 14 min before the pass. 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 20045
CountryCIS
Launched1989-06-07
COSPAR1989-042A
Maneuver capableUnknown
COSMOS 887Payload
NORAD 9637
CountryCIS
Launched1976-12-28
COSPAR1976-128A
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 957 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 957 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 · COSMOS 2026 ⟷ COSMOS 887
2026-10-29 15:453.35 km Final forecast12.18 km/s957 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
29 Oct 00:15 UTC3.35 km Forecast29 Oct 15:45 UTC28 Oct 14:07 UTCRe-check
28 Oct 15:55 UTC3.39 km Forecast29 Oct 15:45 UTC27 Oct 21:12 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
1.64 km10-24 04:46 UTC
COSMOS 2026SCOUT G-1 R/B
2.75 km10-27 21:27 UTC
COSMOS 970 DEBCOSMOS 887
2.76 km10-31 02:34 UTC
COSMOS 2026PRAETORIAN SDA_601

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 →

Cite this encounter: Orbital Radar — “COSMOS 2026 ⟷ COSMOS 887: 3.35 km predicted close approach”, https://orbitalradar.com/conjunction/20045-9637 (accessed 2026-10-30).