CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1966-0473
EXPLORER 17 (S-6)
EXPLORER 17 (S-6) (NORAD 564) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 24 November 1966, after 3 years, 7 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
564
International designator
1963-009A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
3 Apr 1963Cape Canaveral
Re-entered (UTC)
24 Nov 1966UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
3 years, 7 months1,331 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
57.6°N to 57.6°SFinal inclination 57.6°
Mass
184 kg
Operator
GSFC
Built by
GSFC
Bus
S-6
Programme
Explorer AE
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 57.6°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 57.6°N and 57.6°S.
Life in orbit
3 years, 7 monthsEXPLORER 17 (S-6)’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 24 Nov 1966
1 entryFrom the same launch
1963-009
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1966-0473
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1966-0473
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.