Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2162 ⟷ OPS 2644
HighCross-border
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 18 min before the pass.
Closest approach8 Nov 202610:55 UTC
Relative speed14.00 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude1,409 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed8 Nov10:37 UTC · final forecast

RU COSMOS 2162 and US OPS 2644 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 9.36 km at 2026-11-08 10:55 UTC, at a relative speed of 14.00 km/s. Final forecast, made 18 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 21733
CountryCIS
Launched1991-09-28
COSPAR1991-068F
Maneuver capableUnknown
OPS 2644Payload
NORAD 3673
CountryUS
Launched1969-02-05
COSPAR1969-010B
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 1409 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 1409 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

3 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · COSMOS 2162 ⟷ OPS 2644
2026-11-08 10:559.36 km Final forecast14.00 km/s1,409 kmShown above
2026-11-08 09:014.35 km Final forecast14.00 km/s1,409 kmView →
2026-11-08 04:156.46 km Final forecast13.99 km/s1,414 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
8 Nov 10:37 UTC9.36 km Forecast8 Nov 10:55 UTC8 Nov 00:11 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
2.74 km11-09 07:31 UTC
COSMOS 2162COSMOS 1473
6.87 km11-09 08:32 UTC
COSMOS 2162COSMOS 1878
7.60 km11-10 12:07 UTC
COSMOS 2162COSMOS 2299

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 →