CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1972-0362
COSMOS 538
COSMOS 538 (NORAD 6311) landed on 27 December 1972, after 13 days in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
6311
International designator
1972-099A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
USSR
Launched
14 Dec 1972Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Landed (UTC)
27 Dec 1972UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
13 days13 days
How it ended
Landed
Latitude range
65.4°N to 65.4°SFinal inclination 65.4°
Mass
2,200 kg
Operator
GUKOS RVSN
Built by
TsKBEM Fil. 3
Bus
Zenit-4M
Programme
Zenit-4M
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 65.4°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 65.4°N and 65.4°S.
Life in orbit
13 daysFrom the same launch
1972-099Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1972-0362
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1972-0362
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.