CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1997-0183
M-3S2 R/B
M-3S2 R/B (NORAD 17481) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 28 June 1997, after 10 years, 4 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
17481
International designator
1987-012B
Object type
Rocket body
Country
Japan
Launched
5 Feb 1987Uchinoura
Re-entered (UTC)
28 Jun 1997UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
10 years, 4 months3,796 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
31.1°N to 31.1°SFinal inclination 31.1°
Mass
310 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 31.1°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 31.1°N and 31.1°S.
Life in orbit
10 years, 4 monthsM-3S2 R/B’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
From the same launch
1987-012
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1997-0183
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1997-0183
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.