CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1971-0184
OPS 8709
OPS 8709 (NORAD 5297) was deorbited in a controlled re-entry on 6 August 1971, after 1 month in orbit.
Controlled re-entryOfficial date
NORAD number
5297
International designator
1971-056A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
15 Jun 1971Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
6 Aug 1971UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
1 month52 days
How it ended
Deorbited (controlled re-entry)
Latitude range
83.7°N to 83.7°SFinal inclination 96.3°
Mass
6,737 kg
Operator
NRO / SAFSP
Built by
LMSC
Bus
KH-9
Programme
Hex 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 96.3°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 83.7°N and 83.7°S.
Life in orbit
1 monthOPS 8709’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 6 Aug 1971
1 entryFrom the same launch
1971-056
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1971-0184
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1971-0184
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.