CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2012-0117
EXPLORER 8
EXPLORER 8 (NORAD 60) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 28 March 2012, after 51 years, 4 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
60
International designator
1960-014A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
3 Nov 1960Cape Canaveral
Re-entered (UTC)
28 Mar 2012UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
51 years, 4 months18,773 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
49.9°N to 49.9°SFinal inclination 49.9°
Mass
41 kg
Operator
GSFC
Built by
NASA MSFC
Bus
S-1
Programme
ExplorerG
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 49.9°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 49.9°N and 49.9°S.
Life in orbit
51 years, 4 monthsEXPLORER 8’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
From the same launch
1960-014
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2012-0117
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2012-0117
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.