Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›YAOGAN-39 01B ⟷ TABLETSAT AURORA
high · CROSS-BORDER
8.95 kmpredicted miss distance
Not re-confirmedLast confirmed 11 h before the pass. Later screening did not re-confirm it.
Predicted closest approach
2026-10-13 06:57 UTC
Relative speed
13.07 km/s
Altitude
Last confirmed
12 Oct 19:30 UTC
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CN YAOGAN-39 01B and RU TABLETSAT AURORA were predicted to reach a closest approach of 8.95 km at 2026-10-13 06:57 UTC, at a relative speed of 13.07 km/s. Screening last confirmed this pass 11 h before it was due and did not re-confirm it after that, so the figure may have been overtaken by newer orbital data, for example after a maneuver. 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 57728
CountryPRC
Launched2023-08-31
COSPAR2023-130B
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 40017
CountryCIS
Launched2014-06-19
COSPAR2014-033H
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 501 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 501 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

4 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · YAOGAN-39 01B ⟷ TABLETSAT AURORA
2026-10-25 04:21718 m Live forecast8.95 km/s521 kmView →
2026-10-24 19:393.84 km Withdrawn9.09 km/s503 kmView →
2026-10-24 14:067.07 km Withdrawn9.14 km/s521 kmView →
2026-10-13 06:578.95 km Not re-confirmed13.07 km/s501 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.

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
1.11 km10-20 22:29 UTC
YAOGAN-39 01BSKYBEE-A02
3.42 km10-18 21:46 UTC
YAOGAN-39 01BOKEAN 2
3.48 km10-23 00:55 UTC
YAOGAN-39 01BFLOCK 4H 24

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 →

Cite this encounter: Orbital Radar — “YAOGAN-39 01B ⟷ TABLETSAT AURORA: 8.95 km forecast, not re-confirmed”, https://orbitalradar.com/conjunction/40017-57728 (accessed 2026-10-24).