Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2550 ⟷ STARLINK-4413
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WithdrawnNewer orbit data from 5 Nov 11:07 UTC no longer shows this pass. Within 40 minutes of the predicted time the two stay at least 26.6 km apart.
Closest approach6 Nov 202601:41 UTC
Relative speed5.19 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude463 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed5 Nov02:51 UTC · withdrawn

RU COSMOS 2550 and US STARLINK-4413 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 7.18 km at 2026-11-06 01:41 UTC, at a relative speed of 5.19 km/s. Withdrawn: newer orbit data from 5 Nov 11:07 UTC no longer shows this pass. Within 40 minutes of the predicted time the two stay at least 26.6 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, 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 48865
CountryCIS
Launched2021-06-25
COSPAR2021-056A
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 53207
CountryUS
Launched2022-07-22
COSPAR2022-084U
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 463 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 463 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

3 predicted passes under 10 km
Pair history · COSMOS 2550 ⟷ STARLINK-4413
2026-11-06 01:417.18 km Withdrawn5.19 km/s463 kmShown above
2026-11-06 00:072.64 km Live forecast5.21 km/s463 kmView →
2026-09-29 16:255.63 km Not re-confirmed15.12 km/s467 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
5 Nov 03:11 UTC37.33 km Withdrawn6 Nov 01:42 UTC4 Nov 20:54 UTCRe-check
5 Nov 02:31 UTC7.18 km Forecast6 Nov 01:41 UTC4 Nov 15:16 UTCRe-check
5 Nov 02:11 UTC8.46 km Forecast6 Nov 01:41 UTC4 Nov 15:16 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
1.62 km11-05 19:30 UTC
COSMOS 2550STARLINK-35105
1.90 km11-05 08:42 UTC
COSMOS 2550STARLINK-36760
2.80 km10-30 16:37 UTC
COSMOS 2550STARLINK-35163

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 →