CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1981-0102
SL-8 R/B
SL-8 R/B (NORAD 8531) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 15 March 1981, after 5 years, 2 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
8531
International designator
1976-001B
Object type
Rocket body
Country
USSR
Launched
6 Jan 1976Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
15 Mar 1981UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
5 years, 2 months1,895 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
74.0°N to 74.0°SFinal inclination 74.0°
Mass
1,434 kg
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
5 years, 2 monthsSL-8 R/B’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 15 Mar 1981
3 entriesFrom the same launch
1976-001
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0102
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0102
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.