Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›YAOGAN-43 O1A ⟷ STARLINK-1039
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ChinaYAOGAN-43 O1ANORAD 60458 · launched Aug 2024Military payload
4.80kmPredicted miss distance
United StatesSTARLINK-1039NORAD 44744 · launched Nov 2019Payload
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 17 min before the pass.
Closest approach28 Oct 202611:37 UTC
Relative speed10.30 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude446 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed28 Oct11:20 UTC · final forecast
Track YAOGAN-43 O1ATrack STARLINK-1039All approaches
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CN YAOGAN-43 O1A and US STARLINK-1039 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 4.80 km at 2026-10-28 11:37 UTC, at a relative speed of 10.30 km/s. Final forecast, made 17 min before the pass. 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-43 O1APayload
NORAD 60458
CountryPRC
Launched2024-08-16
OrbitLEO · 446 × 450 km
COSPAR2024-148A
Maneuver capableUnknown
Profile →Globe →
STARLINK-1039Payload
NORAD 44744
CountryUS
Launched2019-11-11
OrbitLEO · 449 × 454 km
COSPAR2019-074AH
Maneuver capableUnknown
Profile →Globe →

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 446 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 446 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-43 O1A ⟷ STARLINK-1039
2026-10-28 11:374.80 km Final forecast10.30 km/s446 kmShown above
2026-10-28 10:508.27 km Withdrawn10.29 km/s453 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
28 Oct 07:43 UTC4.80 km Forecast28 Oct 11:37 UTC28 Oct 03:03 UTCRe-check
28 Oct 01:43 UTC4.71 km Forecast28 Oct 11:37 UTC27 Oct 19:48 UTCRe-check
27 Oct 19:43 UTC4.80 km Forecast28 Oct 11:37 UTC27 Oct 13:37 UTCRe-check
27 Oct 14:03 UTC6.71 km Forecast28 Oct 11:37 UTC27 Oct 07:30 UTCRe-check
27 Oct 13:43 UTC6.96 km Forecast28 Oct 11:37 UTC27 Oct 07:30 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
3.91 km10-31 07:01 UTC
YAOGAN-43 O1ASTARLINK-2735
4.20 km10-31 17:03 UTC
YAOGAN-43 O1ASTARLINK-2061
4.28 km10-31 08:34 UTC
YAOGAN-43 O1AOBJECT D

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-43 O1A ⟷ STARLINK-1039: 4.80 km predicted close approach”, https://orbitalradar.com/conjunction/44744-60458 (accessed 2026-10-30).
✓ Permanent record. This encounter met the notability thresholds and keeps an archived page after the pass.