RECORD OF RE-ENTRYOrbital Register™ · by Orbital Radar™
Entry number
Certificate pending
AFRL-XVI
AFRL-XVI (NORAD 56942) re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 7 January 2026, after 2 years, 6 months in orbit.
Official date
NORAD number
56942
International designator
2023-084L
Object type
Spacecraft
Country
United States
Launched
12 Jun 2023Vandenberg
Re-entered (UTC)
7 Jan 2026UTC calendar day
Time in orbit
2 years, 6 months940 days
How it ended
Re-entered (natural decay)
Latitude range
82.5°N to 82.5°SFinal inclination 97.5°
Mass
23 kg
Operator
Built by
Blue Canyon / ViaSat
Bus
Cubesat 12U
Programme
AFRL Tech
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
2 years, 6 monthsAFRL-XVI’s lowest and highest points above Earth, week by week, from its tracking history.
Also ended on 7 Jan 2026
5 entriesFrom the same launch
2023-0842024-0250PHOTON-042024-0463ISTANBUL2024-0621FOSSASAT2E16 (FEROX)2024-0706FOSSASAT2E17 (FEROX)2024-0781FOSSASAT2E14 (FEROX)2024-0782FOSSASAT2E15 (FEROX)2024-1322OBJECT BR2024-1565MISR-A-12024-1604SPACEBEE-1682024-1611MISR-B-22024-1794SPACEBEE-1692024-1795OBJECT BWIn orbitBlackjack Aces-1In orbitION-SCV011In orbitGHOST-3In orbitLauncher Orbiter SN3In orbitICEYE-X25In orbitAFR
Recorded in the Orbital Register™. The certificate and its permanent entry number follow once the record is complete.
orbitalradar.com/register/norad/56942
© 2026 Orbital Radar.
orbitalradar.com/register/norad/56942
© 2026 Orbital Radar.