CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1976-0147
ARIEL 1 (UK-1)
ARIEL 1 (UK-1) (NORAD 285) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 24 May 1976, after 14 years in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
285
International designator
1962-015A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United Kingdom
Launched
26 Apr 1962Cape Canaveral
Re-entered (UTC)
24 May 1976UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
14 years5,142 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
53.8°N to 53.8°SFinal inclination 53.8°
Mass
60 kg
Operator
BNCSR
Built by
GSFC / WTA
Bus
Ariel
Programme
UK
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 53.8°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 53.8°N and 53.8°S.
Life in orbit
14 yearsARIEL 1 (UK-1)’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 24 May 1976
2 entriesFrom the same launch
1962-015
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1976-0147
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1976-0147
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.