Home›Maneuver Tracker›Close Approaches›KITA-36 ⟷ GRUS-3E
CriticalProximity
United StatesKITA-36NORAD 69909 · launched Jul 2026Payload
805mPredicted miss distance
JapanGRUS-3ENORAD 69898 · launched Jul 2026Payload
Final forecastFinal forecast, made minutes before the pass.
Closest approach2 Nov 202614:20 UTC
Drift speed2.2 m/s8 km/h, seen from GRUS-3E
Altitude604 kmlow Earth orbit
Last confirmed2 Nov14:15 UTC · final forecast
Track KITA-36Track GRUS-3EAll approaches
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US KITA-36 and JP GRUS-3E were predicted to reach a closest approach of 805 m at 2026-11-02 14:20 UTC, drifting past at about 2.2 m/s (8 km/h) as seen from GRUS-3E. Final forecast, made minutes 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
KITA-36Payload
NORAD 69909
CountryUS
Launched2026-07-07
OrbitLEO · 587 × 597 km
COSPAR2026-156AS
Maneuver capableUnknown
Profile →Globe →
GRUS-3EPayload
NORAD 69898
CountryJPN
Launched2026-07-07
OrbitLEO · 588 × 598 km
COSPAR2026-156AF
Maneuver capableUnknown
Profile →Globe →

Where This Happens

Altitude context
DEBRIS BELT 700–1000 KM2006001,0001,5002,000 kmTHIS PASS · 604 KMISS 420Starlink 550

At 604 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 · KITA-36 ⟷ GRUS-3E
2026-11-02 16:159.86 km Final forecast0.01 km/s601 kmView →
2026-11-02 14:20805 m Final forecast0.00 km/s604 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 Nothing is overwritten: a withdrawn forecast keeps its figure, with the newer check beside it, and the best estimate after the pass is a row of its own.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
2 Nov 09:14 UTC805 m Forecast2 Nov 14:20 UTC2 Nov 03:29 UTCRe-check
2 Nov 03:27 UTC772 m Forecast2 Nov 14:20 UTC1 Nov 11:23 UTCRe-check
1 Nov 18:48 UTC771 m Forecast2 Nov 14:20 UTC1 Nov 06:33 UTCRe-check
1 Nov 14:16 UTC1.12 km Forecast2 Nov 14:23 UTC1 Nov 04:57 UTCRe-check
1 Nov 13:56 UTC2.74 km Forecast2 Nov 13:56 UTC1 Nov 04:57 UTCScreen
1 Nov 13:36 UTC3.47 km Forecast2 Nov 13:36 UTC1 Nov 04:57 UTCScreen
1 Nov 13:16 UTC5.86 km Forecast2 Nov 13:16 UTC1 Nov 04:57 UTCScreen
1 Nov 12:56 UTC8.13 km Forecast2 Nov 12:56 UTC1 Nov 04:57 UTCScreen

These Objects Elsewhere

Other screened approaches · 7 days
284 m11-04 00:01 UTC
KITA-36COSMOS 2251 DEB
489 m10-31 06:01 UTC
KITA-36SL-14 R/B
2.73 km10-29 22:36 UTC
KITA-36ICEYE-X73

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 →