CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2012-0275
OPS 8180 (RADCAT)
OPS 8180 (RADCAT) (NORAD 6212) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 2 August 2012, after 39 years, 10 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
6212
International designator
1972-076A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
2 Oct 1972Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
2 Aug 2012UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
39 years, 10 months14,549 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
81.5°N to 81.5°SFinal inclination 98.5°
Mass
207 kg
Operator
USN / DoD
Built by
GD/Convair
Bus
Radcat
Programme
STP1
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 98.5°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 81.5°N and 81.5°S.
Life in orbit
39 years, 10 monthsOPS 8180 (RADCAT)’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 2 Aug 2012
2 entriesFrom the same launch
1972-076
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2012-0275
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2012-0275
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.