CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1979-0514
GRIDSPHERE 1
GRIDSPHERE 1 (NORAD 5406) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 2 November 1979, after 8 years, 2 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
5406
International designator
1971-067H
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
7 Aug 1971Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
2 Nov 1979UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
8 years, 2 months3,009 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
87.5°N to 87.5°SFinal inclination 87.5°
Mass
6 kg
Operator
SAMSO / AFAL
Built by
AFAL / GOYR?
Bus
AVL-802
Programme
OV1 A
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 87.5°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 87.5°N and 87.5°S.
Life in orbit
8 years, 2 monthsGRIDSPHERE 1’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Came down with GRIDSPHERE 1
4 entriesFrom the same launch
1971-067
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1979-0514
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1979-0514
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.