Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›YAOGAN 21 ⟷ STARLINK-30073
HighCross-border
WithdrawnNewer orbit data from 14 Nov 08:04 UTC no longer shows this pass. Within 40 minutes of the predicted time the two stay at least 15.0 km apart.
Closest approach14 Nov 202623:07 UTC
Relative speed7.83 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude486 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed14 Nov11:34 UTC · withdrawn

CN YAOGAN 21 and US STARLINK-30073 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 7.32 km at 2026-11-14 23:07 UTC, at a relative speed of 7.83 km/s. Withdrawn: newer orbit data from 14 Nov 08:04 UTC no longer shows this pass. Within 40 minutes of the predicted time the two stay at least 15.0 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. 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 21Payload
NORAD 40143
CountryPRC
Launched2014-09-08
COSPAR2014-053A
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 56840
CountryUS
Launched2023-06-04
COSPAR2023-079T
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 486 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 486 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 21 ⟷ STARLINK-30073
2026-11-14 23:543.41 km Live forecast7.85 km/s481 kmView →
2026-11-14 23:077.32 km Withdrawn7.83 km/s486 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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 11:53 UTC15.00 km Withdrawn14 Nov 23:07 UTC14 Nov 08:04 UTCRe-check
14 Nov 10:54 UTC7.32 km Forecast14 Nov 23:07 UTC14 Nov 02:41 UTCRe-check
14 Nov 10:35 UTC8.11 km Forecast14 Nov 23:07 UTC14 Nov 02:41 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
316 m11-09 02:35 UTC
YAOGAN 21STARLINK-4346
951 m11-08 02:53 UTC
YAOGAN 21STARLINK-32502
1.16 km11-11 23:32 UTC
YAOGAN 21STARLINK-35466

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 →