CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2024-0250
PHOTON-04
PHOTON-04 (NORAD 56959) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 21 February 2024, after 8 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
56959
International designator
2023-084AD
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
12 Jun 2023Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
21 Feb 2024UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
8 months254 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
82.5°N to 82.5°SFinal inclination 97.5°
Mass
275 kg
Operator
Varda Space
Built by
Rocket Lab
Bus
RL Pioneer
Programme
Photon
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 97.5°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 82.5°N and 82.5°S.
Life in orbit
8 monthsPHOTON-04’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 21 Feb 2024
15 entriesFrom the same launch
2023-0842024-0463ISTANBUL2024-0621FOSSASAT2E16 (FEROX)2024-0706FOSSASAT2E17 (FEROX)2024-0781FOSSASAT2E14 (FEROX)2024-0782FOSSASAT2E15 (FEROX)2024-1322OBJECT BR2024-1565MISR-A-12024-1604SPACEBEE-1682024-1611MISR-B-22024-1794SPACEBEE-1692024-1795OBJECT BW2024-1807OBJECT SIn orbitBlackjack Aces-1In orbitION-SCV011In orbitGHOST-3In orbitLauncher Orbiter SN3In orbitICEYE-X25In orbitAFR
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2024-0250
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2024-0250
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.