CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1997-0391
SL-6 R/B(2)
SL-6 R/B(2) (NORAD 12920) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 15 December 1997, after 16 years, 1 month in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
12920
International designator
1981-105E
Object type
Rocket body
Country
USSR
Launched
17 Oct 1981Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
15 Dec 1997UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
16 years, 1 month5,903 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
62.2°N to 62.2°SFinal inclination 62.2°
Mass
4,500 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 62.2°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 62.2°N and 62.2°S.
Life in orbit
16 years, 1 monthSL-6 R/B(2)’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 15 Dec 1997
1 entryFrom the same launch
1981-105
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1997-0391
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1997-0391
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.