Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›COSMOS 2606 ⟷ STARLINK-31823
CriticalCross-border
On permanent record
Final forecastFinal forecast, made 14 min before the pass.
Closest approach10 Nov 202619:21 UTC
Relative speed11.99 km/sat the closest approach
Altitude477 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed10 Nov19:06 UTC · final forecast

RU COSMOS 2606 and US STARLINK-31823 were predicted to reach a closest approach of 641 m at 2026-11-10 19:21 UTC, at a relative speed of 11.99 km/s. Final forecast, made 14 min before the pass. This is a cross-border encounter between objects of different nations. 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 67680
CountryCIS
Launched2026-02-05
COSPAR2026-023G
Maneuver capableUnknown
NORAD 59794
CountryUS
Launched2024-05-18
COSPAR2024-093N
Maneuver capableUnknown

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 477 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 477 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 · COSMOS 2606 ⟷ STARLINK-31823
2026-11-10 19:21641 m Final forecast11.99 km/s477 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
10 Nov 14:28 UTC641 m Forecast10 Nov 19:21 UTC10 Nov 09:42 UTCRe-check
10 Nov 10:13 UTC3.68 km Forecast10 Nov 19:21 UTC10 Nov 04:34 UTCRe-check
10 Nov 09:55 UTC8.94 km Forecast10 Nov 19:21 UTC10 Nov 04:34 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
2.36 km11-12 07:28 UTC
COSMOS 2606STARLINK-31634
3.10 km11-07 20:36 UTC
COSMOS 2606STARLINK-30095
4.16 km11-05 07:18 UTC
COSMOS 2606STARLINK-34135

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.