Shi Jian 21 beside Beidou DW 2
A satellite of Shanghai Academy of Space Technology (CASC 8th Acad) came up beside a satellite of China National Space Administration, 0 km away at the nearest its sources state.
Reported: 1 public report other than Orbinauts names these two.
From the public record
- From
- Dec 25, 2021
- to Jan 26, 2022
- Closest stated
- 0 km
- Jan 22, 2022
- Orbit
- GEO
- geostationary orbit
The one that moved
Shi Jian 21
Shanghai Academy of Space Technology (CASC 8th Acad), CN
49330 · 2021-094A · launched Oct 24, 2021
The one it came up to
Beidou DW 2
China National Space Administration, CN
34779 · 2009-018A · launched Apr 14, 2009
What the sources state
Every day and distance here is the sources’ own, to the precision they state.
- When
- Dec 25, 2021 to Jan 26, 2022
- BesideDec 25, 2021
- On December 25, 2021, the SJ-21 rendezvoused with a defunct Chinese navigation satellite, Compass G2
- Closest statedJan 22, 2022
- docked to it at some point, and around 21 January 2022 pulled both to a higher altitude
- LeftJan 26, 2022
- Breaking Defense, 26 January 2022: the latest tracking data showed SJ-21 separating from the Compass G2
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.
| Said on | Who | What |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 2026 | Institute | Victoria Samson, SWF Chinese RPO fact sheet, 12 June 2026, p. 5 |