Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›SHIJIAN 6 04B (SJ-6 04B) ⟷ STARLINK-35715
HighCross-border
On permanent record
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 5 min before the pass.
After the passBest estimate, from the orbit data published nearest its time: 2.95 km at 7 Nov 13:16 UTC.
Closest approach7 Nov 202613:16 UTC
Relative speed13.37 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude578 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed7 Nov13:11 UTC · final forecast

CN SHIJIAN 6 04B (SJ-6 04B) and US STARLINK-35715 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 2.99 km at 2026-11-07 13:16 UTC, at a relative speed of 13.37 km/s. Final forecast, made 5 min before the pass. Best estimate after the pass, from the orbit data published nearest its time: 2.95 km at 7 Nov 13:16 UTC. 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 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 37180
CountryPRC
Launched2010-10-06
COSPAR2010-051B
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 66841
CountryUS
Launched2025-12-02
COSPAR2025-280W
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 578 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 578 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 · SHIJIAN 6 04B (SJ-6 04B) ⟷ STARLINK-35715
2026-11-07 13:162.99 km Final forecast · after: 2.95 km13.37 km/s578 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
11 Nov 19:37 UTC2.95 km Best estimate7 Nov 13:16 UTC7 Nov 14:10 UTCBest estimate
7 Nov 12:51 UTC2.99 km Forecast7 Nov 13:16 UTC7 Nov 08:31 UTCRe-check
7 Nov 09:37 UTC2.96 km Forecast7 Nov 13:16 UTC7 Nov 07:07 UTCRe-check
7 Nov 09:18 UTC5.31 km Forecast7 Nov 13:16 UTC7 Nov 07:07 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
2.35 km11-07 17:45 UTC
SHIJIAN 6 04B (SJ-6 04B)RISAT 2B
2.44 km11-05 03:31 UTC
SHIJIAN 6 04B (SJ-6 04B)NOAA 17 DEB
3.33 km11-12 20:32 UTC
SHIJIAN 6 04B (SJ-6 04B)METEOR 2-6 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 →

✓ Permanent record. This encounter met the notability thresholds and keeps an archived page after the pass.