SPX-524 25 June 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 May 1997 and 24 June 1997.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) 1997-030A (24836) IRIDIUM 14 18 Jun 1997-030G (24842) IRIDIUM 11 18 Jun 1997-030B (24837) IRIDIUM 12 18 Jun 1997-029A (24834) FENGYUN 2 10 Jun 1997-030C (24838) IRIDIUM 10 18 Jun 1997-028A (24827) COSMOS 2344 6 Jun 1997-030D (24839) IRIDIUM 9 18 Jun 1997-027B (24820) INSAT 2D 3 Jun 1997-030E (24840) IRIDIUM 13 18 Jun 1997-027A (24819) INMARSAT 3-F4 3 Jun 1997-030F (24841) IRIDIUM 16 18 Jun 1997-026A (24812) TELSTAR 5 24 May B. Text of Launch Announcements. 1997-030A, IRIDIUM 14, IRIDIUM 12, IRIDIUM 10, IRIDIUM 9, IRIDIUM 13, 030B,030C, IRIDIUM 16, and IRIDIUM 11 are American low altitude 030D,030E, communications spacecraft. They were designed for linking mobile 030F,030G telephone communications around the world. These seven 650- kg spacecraft were launched by a Proton-K rocket with a DM-2M booster stage from Baykonur cosmodrome at 14:03 UT. Initial orbital parameters of all were similar: period 95 min, apogee 516 km, perigee 498 km, and inclination 86.4 deg. 1997-029A FENGYUN 2 is a PRC geosynchronous meteorological spacecraft that was launched by a Long March 3 rocket from Xichang launch station at 12:01 UT. The 1,380 kg spacecraft carries a scanning radiometer and a cloud cover mapper and was parked at 105-E longitude to cover 100 million square-km centered on China. 1997-028A COSMOS 2344 is a Russian military reconnaissance spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 16:57 UT. According to a Moscow daily Kommersant this may be the same satellite that was code-named 11F66 in 1984 but whose completion had been repeatedly delayed. The booster stage, DM-2M, used in the launch is expected to be used in several more imminent commercial launches. Initial orbital parameters were period 130.1 min, apogee 2,748 km, perigee 1,509 km, and inclination 63.4 deg. 1997-027B INSAT 2D is an Indian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou in French Guiana at 23:21 UT. The 2,079 kg spacecraft carries a total of 23 transponders in the C- and Ku-Bands to provide voice and video communications to the countries in the west, south, and southeast Asia. The parking longitude is likely to be 74-E or 93-E longitude. 1997-027A INMARSAT 3-F4 is a geosynchronous communications spacecraft of that international consortium that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from French Guiana at 23:21 UT. The 2,400 kg spacecraft carries transponders to enable communications among mobile vehicles, ships, and planes in the Atlantic region after parking at 45-E longitude. 1997-026A TELSTAR 5 is an American geosynchronous spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 17:00 UT. The 3,600 kg spacecraft carries 24 C-band and 28 Ku-band transponders to provide voice and video communications after parking at 97-W longitude. 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. 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 1997-015B (24762) R/B Molniya-M 15 Jun 1997-028B (24828) R/B Proton-K 07 Jun 1997-026B (24813) R/B Proton-K 01 Jun 1997-023A (24804) STS 84 Landed on 24 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.) MIR space station suffered damage when PROGRESS M-34 cargocraft collided with it on 25 June 1997 while attempting an automatic docking maneuver; repair and salvage operations are underway. 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.