CERTIFICATE OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry no.
2025-1276
TRACE
TRACE (NORAD 25280) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 18 July 2025 over the Indian Ocean, after 27 years, 3 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
25280
International designator
1998-020A
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
2 Apr 1998Air launch (Pacific)
Re-entered (UTC)
18 Jul 2025Recorded time 11:37 UTC
Time in orbit
27 years, 3 months9,969 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
82.6°N to 82.6°SFinal inclination 97.4°
Mass
250 kg
Operator
GSFC
Built by
GSFC
Bus
SMEX
Programme
SMEX
Where it came down
Recorded positionRecorded position 38.0°S, 117.0°E at 11:37 UTC. Its final orbit, inclined at 97.4°, allowed a re-entry anywhere between 82.6°N and 82.6°S.
Life in orbit
27 years, 3 monthsTRACE’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 18 Jul 2025
6 entriesFrom the same launch
1998-020
Entered in the Orbital Register™, founding volume, September 2026.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2025-1276
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.
Record version 1 · No corrections · orbitalradar.com/register/2025-1276
© 2026 Orbital Radar. Cite this entry by its number; the register itself may not be copied.