CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2009-0221
CZ-3 R/B
CZ-3 R/B (NORAD 23944) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 12 September 2009, after 13 years, 2 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
23944
International designator
1996-039B
Object type
Rocket body
Country
China
Launched
3 Jul 1996Xichang
Re-entered (UTC)
12 Sep 2009UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
13 years, 2 months4,819 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
26.5°N to 26.5°SFinal inclination 26.5°
Mass
5,000 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 26.5°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 26.5°N and 26.5°S.
Life in orbit
13 years, 2 monthsCZ-3 R/B’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 12 Sep 2009
1 entry
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2009-0221
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2009-0221
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.