CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1978-0040
Kapsula Kosmosa-973
Nauka 27KS No. 1L
Kapsula Kosmosa-973 (NORAD 10558) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 25 January 1978, after 29 days in orbit.
Official dateIdentified from the historical record
NORAD number
10558
International designator
1977-124D
Object type
Spacecraft
Official listing
COSMOS 973 DEBListed as a fragment
Country
USSR
Launched
27 Dec 1977Baikonur Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
25 Jan 1978UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
29 days29 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
71.4°N to 71.4°SFinal inclination 71.4°
Mass
630 kg
Operator
TsSKB
Built by
TsSKB
Bus
Nauka
Programme
Nauka 27KS
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
29 daysKapsula Kosmosa-973’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 25 Jan 1978
1 entryFrom the same launch
1977-124
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1978-0040
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1978-0040
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.