Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›YAOGAN-33 ⟷ SENTINEL 1C
HighProximity
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 17 min before the pass.
Closest approach2 Nov 202613:32 UTC
Relative speed13.35 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude706 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed2 Nov13:15 UTC · final forecast

CN YAOGAN-33 and ESA SENTINEL 1C were predicted to reach a closest approach of 4.23 km at 2026-11-02 13:32 UTC, at a relative speed of 13.35 km/s. Final forecast, made 17 min before the pass. 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-33Payload
NORAD 47302
CountryPRC
Launched2020-12-27
COSPAR2020-103A
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 62261
CountryESA
Launched2024-12-05
COSPAR2024-235A
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 706 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 706 km this pass sits inside the most congested band in low Earth orbit, home to the debris left by the 2007 ASAT test and the 2009 collision. 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

3 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · YAOGAN-33 ⟷ SENTINEL 1C
2026-11-02 13:324.23 km Final forecast13.35 km/s706 kmShown above
2026-11-02 12:434.53 km Final forecast13.38 km/s688 kmView →
2026-11-02 11:537.50 km Final forecast13.35 km/s706 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
2 Nov 09:14 UTC4.23 km Forecast2 Nov 13:32 UTC2 Nov 04:09 UTCRe-check
2 Nov 03:27 UTC4.22 km Forecast2 Nov 13:32 UTC1 Nov 13:20 UTCRe-check
1 Nov 20:48 UTC4.24 km Forecast2 Nov 13:32 UTC1 Nov 06:44 UTCRe-check
1 Nov 20:32 UTC6.20 km Forecast2 Nov 13:32 UTC1 Nov 06:44 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
1.19 km11-03 08:56 UTC
YAOGAN-33CZ-6A DEB
3.30 km10-30 20:41 UTC
YAOGAN-33CZ-6A DEB
3.77 km11-02 04:34 UTC
YAOGAN-33NOAA 16 DEB

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 →