Shi Jian 17 beside Zhongwei 1
A satellite of China Satellite Communications Corp. Group (China Satcom) came up beside a satellite of China Orient Telecom Satellite Co. Ltd., 3 km away at the nearest its sources state.
Reported: 1 public report other than Orbinauts names these two.
From the public record
- From
- Nov 12, 2016
- to Dec 29, 2016
- Closest stated
- 3 km
- Nov 30, 2016
- Orbit
- GEO
- geostationary orbit, over 163.0° E
The one that moved
Shi Jian 17
China Satellite Communications Corp. Group (China Satcom), CN
41838 · 2016-065A · launched Nov 3, 2016
The one it came up to
Zhongwei 1
China Orient Telecom Satellite Co. Ltd., CN
25354 · 1998-033A · launched May 30, 1998
What the sources state
Every day and distance here is the sources’ own, to the precision they state.
- When
- Nov 12, 2016 to Dec 29, 2016
- BesideNov 12, 2016 to Nov 13, 2016
- circumnavigated Chinasat 5A at 50 to 100 km for several days, closing to within a few km on 30 November 2016
- Closest statedNov 30, 2016
- slowly closing in to within a few km on November 30
- LeftDec 29, 2016
- The two satellites remained close until December 29, when AGI reported that Chinasat 5A was drifting away
The detector was not yet running: it reads low Earth orbit since April 2026 and the geostationary belt since October 2026.
Reported elsewhere
Who else said these two were together, earliest first.