Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 970 DEB ⟷ DELTA 1 DEB
HighCross-border
RussiaCOSMOS 970 DEBNORAD 65000 · launched Dec 1977Military debris
3.75kmPredicted miss distance
United StatesDELTA 1 DEBNORAD 21460 · launched Jun 1975Debris
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 19 min before the pass.
Closest approach13 Nov 202619:23 UTC
Relative speed12.01 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude1,192 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed13 Nov19:04 UTC · final forecast
Track COSMOS 970 DEBTrack DELTA 1 DEBAll approaches
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RU COSMOS 970 DEB and US DELTA 1 DEB were predicted to reach a closest approach of 3.75 km at 2026-11-13 19:23 UTC, at a relative speed of 12.01 km/s. Final forecast, made 19 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
COSMOS 970 DEBDebris
NORAD 65000
CountryCIS
Launched1977-12-21
OrbitLEO · 1,058 × 1,230 km
COSPAR1977-121DM
Maneuver capableNo
Uncontrolled debris fragment tracked by the public catalogue. About space debris →
Profile →Globe →
DELTA 1 DEBDebris
NORAD 21460
CountryUS
Launched1975-06-12
OrbitLEO · 1,090 × 1,214 km
COSPAR1975-052EU
Maneuver capableNo
Uncontrolled debris fragment tracked by the public catalogue. About space debris →
Profile →Globe →

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 1192 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 1192 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 970 DEB ⟷ DELTA 1 DEB
2026-11-13 19:233.75 km Final forecast12.01 km/s1,192 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
13 Nov 13:44 UTC3.75 km Forecast13 Nov 19:23 UTC13 Nov 06:01 UTCRe-check
13 Nov 09:19 UTC3.74 km Forecast13 Nov 19:23 UTC13 Nov 01:48 UTCRe-check
13 Nov 03:13 UTC3.79 km Forecast13 Nov 19:23 UTC12 Nov 08:09 UTCRe-check
13 Nov 02:53 UTC4.56 km Forecast13 Nov 19:23 UTC12 Nov 08:09 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
3.06 km11-07 03:00 UTC
COSMOS 970 DEBONEWEB-0136
4.45 km11-08 08:31 UTC
HULIANWANG DIGUI-190DELTA 1 DEB
5.60 km11-13 19:21 UTC
COSMOS 970 DEBONEWEB-0321

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 →