CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
1998-0025
MOLNIYA 3-16
MOLNIYA 3-16 (NORAD 12512) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 10 February 1998, after 16 years, 8 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
12512
International designator
1981-054A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
USSR
Launched
9 Jun 1981Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
10 Feb 1998UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
16 years, 8 months6,090 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
62.1°N to 62.1°SFinal inclination 62.1°
Mass
1,750 kg
Operator
NPO PM / MSvyaz
Built by
NPO PM
Bus
Molniya-3
Programme
Molniya-3
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 62.1°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 62.1°N and 62.1°S.
Life in orbit
16 years, 8 monthsMOLNIYA 3-16’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 10 Feb 1998
2 entriesFrom the same launch
1981-054
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1998-0025
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/1998-0025
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.