CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2018-0086
IRIDIUM 13
IRIDIUM 13 (NORAD 24840) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 29 April 2018 over the South Pacific Ocean, after 20 years, 10 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
24840
International designator
1997-030E
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
18 Jun 1997Baikonur Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
29 Apr 2018Recorded time 06:38 UTC
Time in orbit
20 years, 10 months7,620 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
86.4°N to 86.4°SFinal inclination 86.4°
Mass
662 kg
Operator
Built by
Motorola / LMMS/Sunnyvale
Bus
LM700
Programme
Iridium
Where it came down
Recorded positionRecorded position 6.8°S, 103.1°W at 06:38 UTC. Its final orbit, inclined at 86.4°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 86.4°N and 86.4°S.
Life in orbit
20 years, 10 monthsIRIDIUM 13’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 29 Apr 2018
2 entriesFrom the same launch
1997-030
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2018-0086
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2018-0086
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.