CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1991-0103
SME
SME (NORAD 12887) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 5 March 1991, after 9 years, 4 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
12887
International designator
1981-100A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
6 Oct 1981Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
5 Mar 1991UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
9 years, 4 months3,437 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
82.4°N to 82.4°SFinal inclination 97.6°
Mass
437 kg
Operator
JPL / CU-LASP
Built by
Ball
Bus
SME
Programme
DeltaEx
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 97.6°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 82.4°N and 82.4°S.
Life in orbit
9 years, 4 monthsSME’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 5 Mar 1991
2 entriesFrom the same launch
1981-100
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1991-0103
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1991-0103
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.