CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1969-0127
COSMOS 259
COSMOS 259 (NORAD 3612) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 5 May 1969, after 4 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
3612
International designator
1968-113A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
USSR
Launched
14 Dec 1968Kapustin Yar
Re-entered (UTC)
5 May 1969UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
4 months142 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
48.4°N to 48.4°SFinal inclination 48.4°
Mass
286 kg
Operator
Southern SDB
Built by
Southern SDB
Bus
DS-U2
Programme
DS-U2-I
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 48.4°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 48.4°N and 48.4°S.
Life in orbit
4 monthsCOSMOS 259’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 5 May 1969
3 entriesFrom the same launch
1968-113
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1969-0127
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1969-0127
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.