CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2024-0331
MOLNIYA 1-49
MOLNIYA 1-49 (NORAD 12156) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 12 March 2024, after 43 years, 1 month in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
12156
International designator
1981-009A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
USSR
Launched
30 Jan 1981Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Re-entered (UTC)
12 Mar 2024UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
43 years, 1 month15,747 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
61.8°N to 61.8°SFinal inclination 61.8°
Mass
1,650 kg
Operator
GUKOS
Built by
NPO PM
Bus
Molniya-1
Programme
Molniya-1K
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 61.8°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 61.8°N and 61.8°S.
Life in orbit
43 years, 1 monthMOLNIYA 1-49’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 12 Mar 2024
9 entriesFrom the same launch
1981-009
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2024-0331
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2024-0331
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.