CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1980-0106
ARIEL 5 (UK 5)
ARIEL 5 (UK 5) (NORAD 7471) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 14 March 1980, after 5 years, 4 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
7471
International designator
1974-077A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United Kingdom
Launched
15 Oct 1974San Marco platform
Re-entered (UTC)
14 Mar 1980UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
5 years, 4 months1,977 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
2.9°N to 2.9°SFinal inclination 2.9°
Mass
135 kg
Operator
SRC
Built by
BAC
Bus
UK 5
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 2.9°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 2.9°N and 2.9°S.
Life in orbit
5 years, 4 monthsARIEL 5 (UK 5)’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 14 Mar 1980
2 entriesFrom the same launch
1974-077
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1980-0106
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1980-0106
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.