CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1989-0873
SL-8 R/B
SL-8 R/B (NORAD 12969) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 8 October 1989, after 7 years, 10 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
12969
International designator
1981-115B
Object type
Rocket body
Country
USSR
Launched
20 Nov 1981Kapustin Yar
Re-entered (UTC)
8 Oct 1989UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
7 years, 10 months2,879 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
50.6°N to 50.6°SFinal inclination 50.6°
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 50.6°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 50.6°N and 50.6°S.
Life in orbit
7 years, 10 monthsSL-8 R/B’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 8 Oct 1989
1 entryFrom the same launch
1981-115
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1989-0873
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1989-0873
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.