Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2038 ⟷ COSMOS 571
HighProximity
Final forecastFinal forecast, made minutes before the pass.
Closest approach6 Nov 202607:55 UTC
Relative speed3.97 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude1,386 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed6 Nov07:55 UTC · final forecast

RU COSMOS 2038 and RU COSMOS 571 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 2.31 km at 2026-11-06 07:55 UTC, at a relative speed of 3.97 km/s. Final forecast, made minutes 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 20232
CountryCIS
Launched1989-09-14
COSPAR1989-074A
Maneuver capableUnknown
COSMOS 571Payload
NORAD 6682
CountryCIS
Launched1973-06-08
COSPAR1973-037H
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 1386 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 1386 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 · COSMOS 2038 ⟷ COSMOS 571
2026-11-06 07:552.31 km Final forecast3.97 km/s1,386 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
5 Nov 11:07 UTC2.31 km Forecast6 Nov 07:55 UTC4 Nov 22:13 UTCRe-check
5 Nov 10:47 UTC4.22 km Forecast6 Nov 07:55 UTC4 Nov 22:13 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
2.29 km11-03 07:08 UTC
COSMOS 2038COSMOS 1357
3.58 km11-02 11:57 UTC
COSMOS 2038COSMOS 1617
4.68 km11-03 07:58 UTC
COSMOS 2038DELTA 1 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 →