CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2002-0422
SL-3 R/B
SL-3 R/B (NORAD 4850) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 18 October 2002, after 31 years, 8 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
4850
International designator
1971-003B
Object type
Rocket body
Country
USSR
Launched
20 Jan 1971Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
18 Oct 2002UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
31 years, 8 months11,594 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
81.1°N to 81.1°SFinal inclination 81.1°
Mass
1,440 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 81.1°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 81.1°N and 81.1°S.
Life in orbit
31 years, 8 monthsSL-3 R/B’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 18 Oct 2002
1 entryFrom the same launch
1971-003
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2002-0422
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2002-0422
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.