CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1981-0266
TIP 3
TIP 3 (NORAD 9403) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 30 May 1981, after 4 years, 8 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
9403
International designator
1976-089A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
1 Sep 1976Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
30 May 1981UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
4 years, 8 months1,732 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
89.2°N to 89.2°SFinal inclination 89.2°
Mass
166 kg
Operator
USN NAVAIR
Built by
APL
Bus
Nova
Programme
NNS I
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 89.2°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 89.2°N and 89.2°S.
Life in orbit
4 years, 8 monthsTIP 3’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
From the same launch
1976-089
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0266
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0266
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.