CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1977-0177
WESTFORD NEEDLES
WESTFORD NEEDLES (NORAD 3256) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 12 April 1977.
Official dateFragment record
NORAD number
3256
International designator
1963-014BW
Object type
Fragment
Country
United States
Parent launched
9 May 1963Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
12 Apr 1977UTC calendar day
Time since launch
13 years, 11 months5,087 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
83.8°N to 83.8°SFinal inclination 83.8°
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 83.8°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 83.8°N and 83.8°S.
Life in orbit
WESTFORD NEEDLES’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 12 Apr 1977
3 entriesFrom the same launch
1963-014
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1977-0177
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1977-0177
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.