Standards of the Register
The Orbital Register is the permanent public record of human-made objects whose flights have ended. These are the rules every entry follows.
What an entry records
An entry records an ending. An object is entered when the record shows its flight has ended, and not before. An object that is still being tracked in orbit has not ended, so it is not in the register.
An entry records how the flight ended: re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, landed, ended on another world, returned from deep space, or was destroyed in orbit. Where a controlled re-entry is on record, the entry says so.
Names. An entry carries the name the object is known by. Where the official catalogue lists an object only as a fragment or as unidentified, but the historical record identifies it, the entry uses that identification and shows the official listing beside it.
Dates
Dates are UTC calendar days. An entry gives the day the flight ended in Coordinated Universal Time, which can differ from the local date where it came down.
Where the records disagree on the date, both dates are shown, with the official date first. A small number of entries have no official date at all; their date comes from the historical record, and the entry says so. A time of day is shown only when one was recorded to the minute.
Entry numbers
Each entry number is the year the flight ended (UTC) followed by a sequence number, for example 2001-0089. Numbers are given in the order entries are made; entries made together, like the founding volume, are numbered in date order. A re-entry recorded late can therefore carry a higher number than one that ended after it. A number never changes and is never reused: if a correction moves an entry’s date, the entry keeps its number and the correction is shown on the entry.
While an entry is being completed it is shown as certificate pending, without a number.
Corrections
Corrections are public. Any change to an entry is published with the entry it changes, and the record version on the entry goes up by one. Entries are never deleted: if an entry is ever withdrawn, its number is retired with a note saying why.
To report a possible error in an entry, contact us with the entry number.
The founding volume
The founding volume, compiled in September 2026, covers every flight known to have ended from 1957 onwards. Its numbered entries run from 1957-0001 to 2025-1925. Entries for flights that ended in 2026 are on record already and show certificate pending until they are numbered.
How to cite
Cite the register as a whole, or any entry by its number:
Every entry page gives a ready-made reference, a BibTeX record and a permanent link.
Rights
The register, its entries, entry numbers and certificates are protected by copyright and database right. You are welcome to cite any entry by its number; copying the register, or a substantial part of it, is not permitted. See the terms of use.