CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1971-0228
OV3-2
OV3-2 (NORAD 2517) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 29 September 1971, after 4 years, 11 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
2517
International designator
1966-097A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
28 Oct 1966Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
29 Sep 1971UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
4 years, 11 months1,797 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
81.9°N to 81.9°SFinal inclination 81.9°
Mass
82 kg
Operator
USAF OAR
Built by
Space General
Bus
OV3
Programme
OV3
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 81.9°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 81.9°N and 81.9°S.
Life in orbit
4 years, 11 monthsOV3-2’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 29 Sep 1971
1 entryFrom the same launch
1966-097
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1971-0228
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1971-0228
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.