CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2019-0051
IRIDIUM 59
IRIDIUM 59 (NORAD 25275) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 11 March 2019 over Africa, after 20 years, 11 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
25275
International designator
1998-019D
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
30 Mar 1998Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
11 Mar 2019Recorded time 11:00 UTC
Time in orbit
20 years, 11 months7,651 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
86.5°N to 86.5°SFinal inclination 86.5°
Mass
662 kg
Operator
Built by
Motorola / LMMS/Sunnyvale
Bus
LM700
Programme
Iridium
Where it came down
Recorded positionRecorded position 12.0°N, 49.0°E at 11:00 UTC. Its final orbit, inclined at 86.5°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 86.5°N and 86.5°S.
Life in orbit
20 years, 11 monthsIRIDIUM 59’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
From the same launch
1998-019
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2019-0051
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2019-0051
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.