Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›YAOGAN 14 ⟷ STARLINK-32903
HighCross-border
On permanent record
WithdrawnNewer orbit data from 4 Nov 13:40 UTC no longer shows this pass. Within 40 minutes of the predicted time the two stay at least 27.4 km apart.
Closest approach5 Nov 202617:02 UTC
Relative speed4.03 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude476 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed4 Nov17:39 UTC · withdrawn

CN YAOGAN 14 and US STARLINK-32903 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 4.31 km at 2026-11-05 17:02 UTC, at a relative speed of 4.03 km/s. Withdrawn: newer orbit data from 4 Nov 13:40 UTC no longer shows this pass. Within 40 minutes of the predicted time the two stay at least 27.4 km apart. The figure above is the forecast as it was published; the newer check is shown beside it, and nothing is overwritten. 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
YAOGAN 14Payload
NORAD 38257
CountryPRC
Launched2012-05-10
COSPAR2012-021A
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 63090
CountryUS
Launched2025-02-23
COSPAR2025-037P
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 476 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 476 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 · YAOGAN 14 ⟷ STARLINK-32903
2026-11-05 17:024.31 km Withdrawn4.03 km/s476 kmShown above
2026-11-05 16:156.27 km Withdrawn4.04 km/s480 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
4 Nov 17:58 UTC27.39 km Withdrawn5 Nov 17:02 UTC4 Nov 13:40 UTCRe-check
4 Nov 17:32 UTC4.31 km Forecast5 Nov 17:02 UTC4 Nov 04:15 UTCRe-check
4 Nov 17:12 UTC4.36 km Forecast5 Nov 17:02 UTC4 Nov 04:15 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
473 m10-28 21:55 UTC
YAOGAN 14SAUDISAT 5B
673 m11-02 07:23 UTC
YAOGAN 14STARLINK-34632
1.38 km10-28 18:47 UTC
YAOGAN 14SAUDISAT 5B

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.