SPX-523 25 May 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 April 1997 and 24 May 1997.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) 1997-025A (24808) THOR 2A 20 May 1997-020D (24795) IRIDIUM 5 05 May 1997-024A (24806) COSMOS 2343 15 May 1997-020C (24794) IRIDIUM 6 05 May 1997-023A (24804) STS 84 15 May 1997-020B (24793) IRIDIUM 7 05 May 1997-022A (24800) COSMOS 2342 14 May 1997-020A (24792) IRIDIUM 8 05 May 1997-021A (24798)DONGFANGHONG 3 11 May 1997-019A (24786) GOES 10 25 Apr 1997-020E (24796) IRIDIUM 4 05 May B. Text of Launch Announcements. 1997-025A THOR 2A is a Norwegian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral to provide voice and video communications to Europe. 1997-024A COSMOS 2343 is a Russian military spacecraft that was launched from Baykonur cosmodrome by a Soyuz-U rocket at 12:10 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 89.4 min, apogee 343.3 km, perigee 179 km, and inclination 64.9 deg. 1997-023A STS 84 is an American shuttle spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral to dock with the Russian MIR station and deliver goods. It docked at 02:33 UT on 17 May and delivered supplies, including water, and a new (Russian) oxygen generating "Electron" machine. Also delivered were resources for biology experiments: 64 beetles to study their sleep habits and several mustard plants. A new British-American astronaut became an extended-stay MIR boarder, replacing the returning, previous American astronaut on board. It undocked from MIR at 01:05 UT on 22 May and landed back in Cape Canaveral on 24 May. 1997-022A COSMOS 2342 is a Russian military communications spacecraft that was launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome by a Molniya-3M booster at 00:34 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 11 hr 49 min, apogee 39,374 km, perigee 546 km, and inclination 62.8 deg. 1997-021A DONGFANGHONG 3 (meaning "East is Red, 3") is a PRC geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched at 16:17 UT from Xichang (also spelled as Jiuquan?) cosmodrome by a Long March 3A rocket and was parked at 125 degrees, east longitude. It carries 24 C-band transponders to provide voice and video communications to China. 1997-020E, IRIDIUM 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 are American mobile communications 020D,020C, spacecraft that were launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg 020B,020A Air Force Base. Initial orbital parameters of all were (approximately) period 97.4 min, apogee 642 km, perigee 629 km, and inclination 86.3 deg. 1997-019A GOES 10 is an American geosynchronous meteorological spacecraft that was launched by an Atlas-Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral. It will remain passively stored as a backup until either GOES 8 or GOES 9 becomes inoperational, probably in a year or two. The advance launch was predicated by anticipated shortage of launch vehicles during 1999 and to eliminate ground-storage and retesting costs. It carries essentially the same kind of payload that is carried by the earlier GOES spacecraft. 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 or 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. Carsten Groen-Nielsen of the VEGA Space Systems Engineering company reports that Meteosat 3 listed in the section remains deactivated since late 1995. 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 1997-023A (24804) STS 84 Landed on 24 May 1997-024B (24807) R/B SUYUZ-U 20 May 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.) It has come to the notice of the SPACEWARN office that the Pegasus XL rocket, 1997-018B (24780) that launched the MINISAT (1997-018A, 24779) has a microcapsule, appropriately named Celestis, containing the ashes of some long-dead people and that more such capsules may be available for past and future ashes. ---------------------- Planned Spacecraft Mission 13/1100 Z MAY "97 FM CRL KOKUBUNJI JAPAN 232611 DEMPA J TO COSPAE/ISES WORLD WARNING AGENCY FOR SATELLITES WORLD DATA CENTER-A FOR R & S, NASA/GSFC CODE 633, GREENBELT, MERYLAND, 20771.USA PRELAUNCH ANNOUNCEMENT Spacecraft Name Communications and Broadcasting Engineering Test Satellite (COMETS) Planned Launch DATE August 18.1997 Country Japan Orbit Type Geostationary Satellite Orbit Perigee approx. 35786 km Apogee approx. 35786 km Weight approx. 2166 kg (Beginning of life) Orbit Period approx. 23 h 56 m Geographic Longitude 121.0 degree East Longitudinal Tolerance +/- 0.1 degree Transmitting Frequencies *2269.680 MHz 3 W & Output Power *2025.000 MHz 75 W (2044.250 MHz) (2076.479 MHz) (2076.940 MHz) 50 W (2096.730 MHz) (2106.400.MHz) *19685.000 MHz 30 W *20095.000 MHz 0.3 W *20115.000 MHz 0.3 W *20165.000 MHz 0.15 W *20370.000 MHz 3.8 W *20700.000 MHz 250 W Transmitting Frequencies *20982.000 MHz 23 W *23157.052 MHz 2.5 W *43746.000 MHz 26 W End of mission period of 3 years Launch Organization National Space Development Agency of Japan Spacecraft Missions The Communications and Broadcasting Engineering Test Satellite (COMETS) is a research and development satellite aimed at developing new technology in communications and broadcasting fields such as inter-orbit communications, advanced satellite broadcasting, advanced mobile satellite communications, and upgrading large geostationary satellites. It is also used for conducting experiments and verifying the above subjects. *NAME COMETS *Lift-Off Time(UTC) YEAR MONTH DAY HOUR MINUTE SEC 1997 08 18 06 50 00 *EPOCH (UTC) YEAR MONTH DAY HOUR MINUTE SEC : 1997 08 18 07 17 12.320 *OSCULATING ORBITAL ELEMENTS (NOMINAL) S.M.AIS (km) : 24491.180 ECCEN. : 0.7293718 INCL. (deg) : 28.500 ASC.NODE (deg) : 105.631 ARG.PER (deg) : 179.000 M.ANOM (deg) : 0.801 ______________________________ 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: Occasionally, 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.