Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2455 ⟷ IRS 1B
HighProximity
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 17 min before the pass.
Closest approach13 Nov 202608:30 UTC
Relative speed9.86 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude901 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed13 Nov08:13 UTC · final forecast

RU COSMOS 2455 and IN IRS 1B were predicted to reach a closest approach of 4.70 km at 2026-11-13 08:30 UTC, at a relative speed of 9.86 km/s. Final forecast, made 17 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 36095
CountryCIS
Launched2009-11-20
COSPAR2009-063A
Maneuver capableUnknown
IRS 1BPayload
NORAD 21688
CountryIND
Launched1991-08-29
COSPAR1991-061A
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 901 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 901 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

2 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · COSMOS 2455 ⟷ IRS 1B
2026-11-13 08:304.70 km Final forecast9.86 km/s901 kmShown above
2026-11-13 06:477.97 km Final forecast9.84 km/s900 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
12 Nov 19:13 UTC4.70 km Forecast13 Nov 08:30 UTC12 Nov 06:29 UTCRe-check
12 Nov 11:47 UTC4.71 km Forecast13 Nov 08:30 UTC12 Nov 03:11 UTCRe-check
12 Nov 11:28 UTC9.62 km Forecast13 Nov 08:30 UTC12 Nov 03:11 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
1.40 km11-09 22:20 UTC
COSMOS 2455METEOR 2-11 DEB
2.62 km11-12 23:55 UTC
COSMOS 2455DELTA 1 DEB
3.96 km11-15 13:38 UTC
COSMOS 2455FENGYUN 1C 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 →