FalconEye 2 beside WorldView-3
A satellite of United Arab Emirates Armed Forces moved up beside a satellite of DigitalGlobe, 10 km away at the nearest, and left after 22 days.
Unreported: no public report has named these two in the 90 days since the detector found them beside each other.
Left · the one that moved opened the distance on May 26, 2026
- Nearest
- 10.2 km
- May 10 · 8:06 PM UTC
- Beside for
- 22 days
- May 3, 7:55 PM to May 26, 3:13 AM UTC
- Took to come beside
- 23 days
- same plane Apr 10, same height Apr 10
- Orbit
- LEO
- low Earth orbit
- Last move
- FalconEye 2
- Apr 10 · 3:34 PM UTC
The one that moved
FalconEye 2
United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, United Arab Emirates
47226 · 2020-090A · launched Dec 2, 2020
The one it came up to
WorldView-3
DigitalGlobe, United States
40115 · 2014-048A · launched Aug 13, 2014
Whether United Arab Emirates Armed Forces or DigitalGlobe has said what this rendezvous was is not recorded yet. What others said is below; this page draws no conclusion.
The stages
Each step is one of Space-Track’s element sets, run through SGP4 and set against the other’s. A stage is raised by one set and confirmed when a later one agrees.
published 4:36 PM UTC
Same plane seen
FalconEye 2’s orbit was found in WorldView-3’s plane, 0.088° off, and 0.11 km higher.
Δa +0.11 km · θ 0.088°
published 4:36 PM UTC
Same height seen
FalconEye 2’s orbit had come to within 0.11 km of WorldView-3’s height.
449.68 km · Δa +0.11 km · θ 0.088°
published 10:46 PM UTC
Beside raised
A set placed FalconEye 2 beside WorldView-3. One set raises it; a later one must agree.
97.76 km · 83.2 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 10:46 PM UTC
Beside confirmed
A later set agreed: FalconEye 2 stayed beside WorldView-3.
96.51 km · 81.4 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.085°
published 10:46 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
84.18 km · 70.0 km a day later · Δa +0.09 km · θ 0.085°
published 3:16 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
75.44 km · 61.9 km a day later · Δa +0.09 km · θ 0.084°
published 7:46 AM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
66.69 km · 52.1 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 11:46 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
58.07 km · 43.8 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 6:56 AM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
51.97 km · 36.6 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.085°
published 7:36 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
45.25 km · 29.5 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 2:15 AM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
40.28 km · 24.2 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 9:16 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
31.82 km · 15.7 km a day later · Δa +0.11 km · θ 0.084°
published May 9, 4:27 AM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
27.44 km · 11.8 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 6:46 AM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
24.09 km · 8.9 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 4:26 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
20.99 km · 7.1 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 10:46 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
16.96 km · 5.5 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 8:26 AM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
13.71 km · 7.0 km a day later · Δa +0.10 km · θ 0.084°
published 3:46 PM UTC
Nearest raised
The least distance read on the pair fell to this.
11.29 km · 9.3 km a day later · Δa +0.09 km · θ 0.084°
published 4:36 AM UTC
Left raised
A set saw FalconEye 2 moving away from WorldView-3. One set raises it; a later one must agree.
235.19 km · 274.1 km a day later · Δa +0.29 km · θ 0.082°
published 10:16 AM UTC
Left confirmed
A later set agreed: FalconEye 2 had left WorldView-3.
243.25 km · 281.6 km a day later · Δa +0.28 km · θ 0.082°
The moves
Each move is a change the detector read between two of an object’s element sets, beyond what drag and the Earth’s shape do: the speed change it implies, the change of height and the change of the orbit’s plane.
Reported elsewhere
No report elsewhere names this rendezvous yet.
Every verdict as numbers
| Stage | State | Set epoch (UTC) | Published (UTC) | Distance | A day later | Δa | θ | Exclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Same plane | seen | 2026-04-10 15:34:28 | 2026-04-10 16:36:19 | +0.11 km | 0.0881° | |||
| Same height | seen | 2026-04-10 15:34:28 | 2026-04-10 16:36:19 | 449.68 km | +0.11 km | 0.0881° | ||
| Beside | raised | 2026-05-03 19:55:06 | 2026-05-03 22:46:21 | 97.76 km | 83.18 km | +0.10 km | 0.0843° | |
| Beside | confirmed | 2026-05-03 21:31:56 | 2026-05-03 22:46:21 | 96.51 km | 81.38 km | +0.10 km | 0.0850° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-04 20:10:25 | 2026-05-04 22:46:35 | 84.18 km | 70.02 km | +0.09 km | 0.0849° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-05 12:20:45 | 2026-05-05 15:16:33 | 75.44 km | 61.88 km | +0.09 km | 0.0843° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-06 02:54:12 | 2026-05-06 07:46:49 | 66.69 km | 52.11 km | +0.10 km | 0.0841° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-06 19:04:32 | 2026-05-06 23:46:50 | 58.07 km | 43.77 km | +0.10 km | 0.0839° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-07 04:46:37 | 2026-05-07 06:56:58 | 51.97 km | 36.56 km | +0.10 km | 0.0847° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-07 16:05:57 | 2026-05-07 19:36:38 | 45.25 km | 29.49 km | +0.10 km | 0.0838° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-08 00:11:01 | 2026-05-08 02:15:03 | 40.28 km | 24.22 km | +0.10 km | 0.0843° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-08 14:44:24 | 2026-05-08 21:16:39 | 31.82 km | 15.72 km | +0.11 km | 0.0836° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-08 22:49:30 | 2026-05-09 04:27:56 | 27.44 km | 11.78 km | +0.10 km | 0.0842° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-09 05:17:38 | 2026-05-09 06:46:51 | 24.09 km | 8.90 km | +0.10 km | 0.0844° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-09 11:45:46 | 2026-05-09 16:26:33 | 20.99 km | 7.11 km | +0.10 km | 0.0839° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-09 19:50:56 | 2026-05-09 22:46:39 | 16.96 km | 5.48 km | +0.10 km | 0.0842° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-10 03:56:07 | 2026-05-10 08:26:30 | 13.71 km | 7.05 km | +0.10 km | 0.0841° | |
| Nearest | raised | 2026-05-10 12:01:17 | 2026-05-10 15:46:25 | 11.29 km | 9.34 km | +0.09 km | 0.0837° | |
| Left | raised | 2026-05-26 03:13:03 | 2026-05-26 04:36:16 | 235.19 km | 274.05 km | +0.29 km | 0.0816° | |
| Left | confirmed | 2026-05-26 08:04:10 | 2026-05-26 10:16:23 | 243.25 km | 281.63 km | +0.28 km | 0.0818° |
Δa is the semi-major axis of the one that moved less the other’s; θ is the angle between the two orbits’ planes. A day later is where the set puts the two 24 hours on, with no further manoeuvre. An exclusion tag on any of this rendezvous’s verdicts would keep it off the list; the pair’s other rendezvous are judged on their own.