CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1961-0002
DISCOVERER 5 CAPSULE
DISCOVERER 5 CAPSULE (NORAD 26) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 11 February 1961, after 1 year, 5 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
26
International designator
1959-005B
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
13 Aug 1959Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
11 Feb 1961UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
1 year, 5 months548 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
78.9°N to 78.9°SFinal inclination 78.9°
Mass
123 kg
Operator
CIA
Built by
GE/MSD
Bus
SRV Mk IIA
Programme
SRV
Where it came down
Latitude band its orbit allowedExact position not recorded
No position was recorded for this re-entry. Its final orbit, inclined at 78.9°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 78.9°N and 78.9°S.
Life in orbit
1 year, 5 monthsDISCOVERER 5 CAPSULE’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
From the same launch
1959-005
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1961-0002
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1961-0002
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.