CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2014-0227
COSMOS 1242
COSMOS 1242 (NORAD 12154) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 8 May 2014, after 33 years, 3 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
12154
International designator
1981-008A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
USSR
Launched
27 Jan 1981Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
8 May 2014UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
33 years, 3 months12,154 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
81.1°N to 81.1°SFinal inclination 81.1°
Mass
1,750 kg
Operator
GRU
Built by
Southern SDB
Bus
Tselina-D
Programme
Tselina-D
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
33 years, 3 monthsCOSMOS 1242’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 8 May 2014
4 entriesFrom the same launch
1981-008
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2014-0227
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2014-0227
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.