SPX-521 25 March 1997 SPACEWARN Activities A publication of NASA NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S and the WWAS for ISES/COSPAR (All information in this publication was received between 25 February 1997 and 24 March 1997.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) 1997-011A (24748) TEMPO 2 08 Mar 1997-009A (24742) INTELSAT 801 01 Mar 1997-010A (24744) ZEYA 04 Mar B. Text of Launch Announcements. 1997-011A TEMPO 2 is an American geosysnchronous spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station by an Atlas 2A rocket to provide direct-to-home television service after parking at 119-W longitude. It carries 16 transponders in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band. 1997-010A ZEYA is the first Russian spacecraft that was successfully launched by a Start-1 rocket (which is a converted SS-25 ICBM) from Svobodnyi cosmodrome at 02:00 UT; it was also the first launch from that newly built cosmodrome in Yakutia Republic in the Amur region. It is a military cartography spacecraft with a mass of 87 kg. Initial orbital parameters were period 94 min, apogee 479 km, perigee 466 km, and inclination 97.2 deg. 1997-009A INTELSAT 801 is a geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou in French Guiana to provide voice and video communications to the member countries in that consortium after parking at 174-E longitude. It carries six transponders in the Ku-band. C. Spacecraft Particularly Suited for International Participation. 1. Spacecraft with essentially continuous radio beacons on frequencies less than 150 MHz, or higher frequencies if especially suited for ionospheric or geodetic studies. (NNSS denotes U.S. Navy Navigational Satellite System; an asterisk [*] indicates updated/new information since the last issue. Updates or corrections to the list are possible only with information from the user community.) SEE LIST IN SPX-520. THE LIST WILL REAPPEAR ONLY AFTER MAJOR UPDATES TO THE LIST ARE AVAILABLE. 2. Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational purposes and geodetic studies. ("NNN" denotes no national name. SPACEWARN Bulletin appreciates suggestions to update this list. An asterisk [*] denotes changes in this issue. High precision (< 20 cm) GPS constellation tracking data obtained from the network of about 80 dedicated global stations that are of interest to geodetic study may be obtained through the following services provided by the International Association of Geodesy (IGS). FTP: igscb.jpl.nasa.gov [directory /igscb] WWW: http://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/ E-Mail: igscb@cobra.jpl.nasa.gov The standard format of the GPS situation appeared in SPX-518. It will not be repeated since an excellent source of trajectory- and science-related GPS information is http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html#DODSystem. It provides many links to GPS-related data bases. 3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation. (SPACEWARN requests updates or additions from readers to this list. An asterisk [*] indicates updates or additions to the list.) All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general COSMOS series. The COSMOS numbers invoked by USSPACECOM have sometimes differed from the numbers (NNNN) associated in Russia. The operating frequencies in MHz are computed from the channel number K. Frequencies (MHz) are L1 = 1602.0 + 0.5625K and L2 = 1246.0 + 0.4375K. The standard format of the GLONASS situation appeared in SPX-515. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source, with the URL http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/glonass.html maintained by the Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC), Russian Space Forces. 4. Actual decays/landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. No further information is available. Designations Common Name 1997 1996-054B (24316) R/B COSMOS 2334 17 Mar 1995-052B (23677) R/B COSMOS 2321 13 Mar 1996-066A (24663) PROGRESS M-33 12 Mar 1996-047A (24280) SOYUZ TM-24 02 Mar 5. Miscellaneous Items. (This section contains information/data that are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the SPACEWARN Bulletin.) PIONEER 10 operations were discontinued as of 31 March 1997. NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S is an archival center for science data from many spacecraft. Some data are on line for electronic access. Please contact the Request Office, NSSDC, Code 633, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information (REQUEST@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV). Information on the current status of the instruments on board from the investigators will be most welcomed. Precomputed trajectory files and orbital parameters of many magnetospheric and heliospheric science-payload spacecraft may be FTP'ed from NSSDC's ANON_DIR:[000000.ACTIVE] and its several subdirectories. (See the last page of the bulletin for the access method; a file in the ACTIVE directory named AAREADME.DOC outlines the contents.) It can also be accessed through the WWW URL http://sscop1.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc.html This HTML also enables executing several codes related to the orbits of many geocentric science payload spacecraft. The codes related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed through the URL http://nssdc/space/helios/heli.html Magnetospheric, planetary, and astronomical science data from many spacecraft may be accessed through links from the URL http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ =========================================================================== SPACEWARN Bulletin The bulletin is intended to serve as an international communication medium for the rapid distribution of information on satellites and space probes. The material it contains is based on guidelines in the COSPAR Guide to Rocket and Satellite Information and Data Exchange, COSPAR Transactions #8, December 1972, and various Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) resolutions. Hard copy recipients and electronic accessers are encouraged to disseminate the bulletin to interested individuals and institutions in their regions or countries. All bulletins beginning with January 1991 (SPX-447) are now available on line; the SPX number increases by one for each succeeding month (for example, the January 1993 bulletin is SPX-471). Through DECnet: At prompt type: copy nssdca::anon_dir:[000000.active.spx]spx.471 Through FTP: At prompt type: ftp nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov At the next prompt type: anonymous At the PASSWORD (NSSDCA.GSFC.GOV.ANONYMOUS) prompt hit: return At the next prompt type: get anon_dir:[000000.active.spx]spx.471 spx.471 Other subdirectories in [000000.active] carry many files of interest on science payload spacecraft. The bulletin may also be accessed through the World Wide Web (WWW). The URL is http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spacewarn.html. Users are urged to submit their comments and suggestions for the improvement of this bulletin to SPACEWARN Bulletin, World Data Center-A for Rockets and Satellites, Code 633, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A. Categories of Spacecraft To improve the effectiveness of international distribution of satellite and space probe information via the SPACEWARN system, spacecraft are identified in categories according to the urgency and detail of information needed by the scientific community as follows: CATEGORY 1: Spacecraft that carry essentially continuous telemetry or radio beacons, usually on frequencies less than 150 MHz. CATEGORY 2: GPS constellation of positioning/navigational spacecraft. CATEGORY 3: GLONASS constellation of positioning/navigational spacecraft. CATEGORY 4: Occassionally, a list of bright, orbiting objects of visual magnitude 4 or brighter. The bulletin also carries launch dates, international IDs, and USSPACECOM catalog numbers, followed by a brief outline of the payload and orbital parameters, re-entry of major objects, and miscellaneous sections. These data are based on launch announcements or on information received from individuals, launching authorities, FBIS and USSPACECOM telexes, and news magazines.