CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1981-0615
HEAO 3
HEAO 3 (NORAD 11532) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 7 December 1981, after 2 years, 2 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
11532
International designator
1979-082A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
20 Sep 1979Cape Canaveral
Re-entered (UTC)
7 Dec 1981UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
2 years, 2 months809 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
43.6°N to 43.6°SFinal inclination 43.6°
Mass
2,860 kg
Operator
NASA MSFC
Built by
TRW
Bus
HEAO
Programme
HEAO
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 43.6°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 43.6°N and 43.6°S.
Life in orbit
2 years, 2 monthsHEAO 3’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
From the same launch
1979-082
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0615
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1981-0615
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.