Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›USA 283 ⟷ APSTAR 6E
HighCross-border
On permanent record
Live forecastConfirmed by the latest screening, 4 Nov 12:53 UTC.
Closest approach5 Nov 202609:40 UTC
Drift speed1.4 m/s5 km/h, seen from APSTAR 6E
Altitude35,786 kmnear the geostationary belt
Separation now—live

US USA 283 and CN APSTAR 6E are predicted to reach a closest approach of 4.75 km at 2026-11-05 09:40 UTC, drifting past at about 1.4 m/s (5 km/h) as seen from APSTAR 6E. Confirmed by the latest screening, 4 Nov 12:53 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
USA 283Payload
NORAD 43339
CountryUS
Launched2018-04-14
COSPAR2018-036A
Maneuver capableUnknown
APSTAR 6EPayload
NORAD 55239
CountryPRC
Launched2023-01-12
COSPAR2023-005A
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
GEO BELT 35,786 KMTHIS PASS · 35,786 KMLEOMEOGEO

This pass happens near the geostationary belt, where satellites hold fixed longitude slots and relative speeds are low. Close approaches here are usually slow drifts rather than crossing passes. About GEO →

History Between This Pair

6 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · USA 283 ⟷ APSTAR 6E
2026-11-05 09:404.75 km Live forecast0.00 km/s35,786 kmShown above
2026-11-02 11:129.21 km Withdrawn0.00 km/s35,790 kmView →
2026-11-01 11:368.74 km Final forecast0.00 km/s35,791 kmView →
2026-11-01 10:256.19 km Final forecast0.00 km/s35,787 kmView →
2026-10-30 09:464.81 km Withdrawn0.00 km/s35,786 kmView →
2026-10-29 11:116.80 km Final forecast0.00 km/s35,790 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 09:33 UTC4.75 km Forecast5 Nov 09:40 UTC4 Nov 04:57 UTCRe-check
4 Nov 09:24 UTC5.37 km Forecast5 Nov 09:38 UTC3 Nov 12:03 UTCRe-check
4 Nov 09:04 UTC5.96 km Forecast5 Nov 09:04 UTC3 Nov 12:03 UTCScreen
4 Nov 08:44 UTC6.74 km Forecast5 Nov 08:44 UTC3 Nov 12:03 UTCScreen
4 Nov 08:24 UTC7.73 km Forecast5 Nov 08:24 UTC3 Nov 12:03 UTCScreen
4 Nov 08:04 UTC8.89 km Forecast5 Nov 08:04 UTC3 Nov 12:03 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
8.71 km10-29 13:10 UTC
USA 283APSTAR 6C
9.00 km10-29 06:21 UTC
USA 283APSTAR 6D

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.