Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›YAOGAN-30 L ⟷ ICEYE-X37
high · CROSS-BORDER
4.13 kmpredicted miss distance
Live forecastConfirmed by the latest screening, 20 Oct 14:19 UTC.
Predicted closest approach
2026-10-21 00:13 UTC
Relative speed
8.45 km/s
Altitude
Last confirmed
20 Oct 14:19 UTC
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CN YAOGAN-30 L and US ICEYE-X37 are predicted to reach a closest approach of 4.13 km at 2026-10-21 00:13 UTC, at a relative speed of 8.45 km/s. Confirmed by the latest screening, 20 Oct 14:19 UTC. 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 43171
CountryPRC
Launched2018-01-25
COSPAR2018-011C
Maneuver capableUnknown
ICEYE-X37Payload
NORAD 59102
CountryUS
Launched2024-03-04
COSPAR2024-043E
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 554 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 554 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 · YAOGAN-30 L ⟷ ICEYE-X37
2026-10-21 00:134.13 km Live forecast8.45 km/s554 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
20 Oct 12:32 UTC4.13 km Forecast21 Oct 00:13 UTC20 Oct 07:34 UTCRe-check
20 Oct 12:13 UTC5.02 km Forecast21 Oct 00:13 UTC19 Oct 22:04 UTCRe-check

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
3.02 km10-16 23:30 UTC
ICEYE-X37OBJECT C
3.46 km10-17 17:32 UTC
YAOGAN-30 LSTRIX-6
4.10 km10-21 00:43 UTC
ICEYE-X37OBJECT A

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-30 L ⟷ ICEYE-X37: 4.13 km predicted close approach”, https://orbitalradar.com/conjunction/43171-59102 (accessed 2026-10-20).
✓ Permanent record. This encounter met the notability thresholds and keeps an archived page after the pass.