CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1978-0016
COSMOS 973
COSMOS 973 (NORAD 10540) landed on 9 January 1978, after 13 days in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
10540
International designator
1977-124A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
USSR
Launched
27 Dec 1977Baikonur Cosmodrome
Landed (UTC)
9 Jan 1978UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
13 days13 days
How it ended
Landed
Latitude range
71.4°N to 71.4°SFinal inclination 71.4°
Mass
2,200 kg
Operator
GUKOS RVSN
Built by
TsSKB
Bus
Zenit-2M
Programme
Zenit-2M
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 71.4°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 71.4°N and 71.4°S.
Life in orbit
13 daysFrom the same launch
1977-124
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1978-0016
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1978-0016
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.