Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2242 ⟷ BUCCANEER MM
HighProximity
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 14 min before the pass.
Closest approach14 Nov 202618:43 UTC
Relative speed15.14 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude571 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed14 Nov18:29 UTC · final forecast

RU COSMOS 2242 and AUS BUCCANEER MM were predicted to reach a closest approach of 1.26 km at 2026-11-14 18:43 UTC, at a relative speed of 15.14 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 22626
CountryCIS
Launched1993-04-16
COSPAR1993-024A
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 63245
CountryAUS
Launched2025-03-15
COSPAR2025-052AM
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 571 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 571 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

2 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · COSMOS 2242 ⟷ BUCCANEER MM
2026-11-14 20:202.92 km Final forecast15.14 km/s571 kmView →
2026-11-14 18:431.26 km Final forecast15.14 km/s571 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
14 Nov 17:09 UTC1.26 km Forecast14 Nov 18:43 UTC14 Nov 05:33 UTCRe-check
14 Nov 15:33 UTC1.27 km Forecast14 Nov 18:43 UTC14 Nov 05:25 UTCRe-check
14 Nov 15:13 UTC3.43 km Forecast14 Nov 18:43 UTC14 Nov 05:25 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
1.42 km11-09 20:56 UTC
COSMOS 2242CZ-2C DEB
2.27 km11-14 07:43 UTC
COSMOS 2242ICEYE-X48
2.29 km11-09 13:33 UTC
COSMOS 2242BRO-31

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 →