CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1968-0045
WESTFORD NEEDLES
WESTFORD NEEDLES (NORAD 3159) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 18 February 1968.
Official dateFragment record
NORAD number
3159
International designator
1963-014AX
Object type
Fragment
Country
United States
Parent launched
9 May 1963Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
18 Feb 1968UTC calendar day
Time since launch
4 years, 9 months1,746 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
83.7°N to 83.7°SFinal inclination 83.7°
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 83.7°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 83.7°N and 83.7°S.
Life in orbit
From the same launch
1963-014
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1968-0045
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1968-0045
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.