CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1981-0086
INTERCOSMOS 20
INTERCOSMOS 20 (NORAD 11609) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 5 March 1981, after 1 year, 4 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
11609
International designator
1979-096A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
USSR
Launched
1 Nov 1979Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
5 Mar 1981UTC calendar dayAlso recorded as 3 Mar 1981
Time in orbit
1 year, 4 months490 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
74.0°N to 74.0°SFinal inclination 74.0°
Mass
995 kg
Operator
IK
Built by
Southern SDB
Bus
AUOS
Programme
AUOS
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 74.0°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 74.0°N and 74.0°S.
Life in orbit
1 year, 4 monthsINTERCOSMOS 20’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 5 Mar 1981
2 entriesFrom the same launch
1979-096
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0086
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0086
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.