CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1967-0028
BLACK SPHERE
BLACK SPHERE (NORAD 502) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 9 February 1967, after 4 years, 1 month in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
502
International designator
1962-067A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
13 Dec 1962Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
9 Feb 1967UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
4 years, 1 month1,519 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
70.2°N to 70.2°SFinal inclination 70.2°
Mass
25 kg
Operator
NRO / NRL
Built by
NRL
Bus
NRL 20"
Programme
POPPY
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 70.2°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 70.2°N and 70.2°S.
Life in orbit
4 years, 1 monthBLACK SPHERE’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 9 Feb 1967
3 entriesFrom the same launch
1962-067
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1967-0028
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1967-0028
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.