CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2019-0331
IRIDIUM 97
IRIDIUM 97 (NORAD 27450) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 27 December 2019 over Asia, after 17 years, 6 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
27450
International designator
2002-031A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
20 Jun 2002Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
27 Dec 2019Recorded time 17:30 UTC
Time in orbit
17 years, 6 months6,399 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
86.6°N to 86.6°SFinal inclination 86.6°
Mass
655 kg
Operator
Built by
Motorola
Bus
LM700
Programme
Iridium
Where it came down
Recorded positionRecorded position 71.0°N, 105.0°E at 17:30 UTC. Its final orbit, inclined at 86.6°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 86.6°N and 86.6°S.
Life in orbit
17 years, 6 monthsIRIDIUM 97’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
From the same launch
2002-031
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2019-0331
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2019-0331
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.