SPX-529 1 December 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 1 November 1997 and 30 November 1997.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) 1997-074B (25064) KIKU-7 27 Nov 1997-069C (25041) IRIDIUM 40 09 Nov 1997-074A (25063) TRMM 27 Nov 1997-069B (25040) IRIDIUM 41 09 Nov 1997-073B (25062) SPARTAN 201-4 21 Nov 1997-069A (25039) IRIDIUM 43 09 Nov 1997-073A (25061) STS 87 19 Nov 1997-068A (25034) USA 136 07 Nov 1997-072A (25059) RESURS F-1M 18 Nov 1997-067A (25030) NAVSTAR 38 06 Nov 1997-071B (25051) CAKRAWARTA 1 12 Nov 1997-058C (24958) SPUTNIK Jr 03 Nov 1997-071A (25050) SIRIUS 2 12 Nov 1997-066C (25025) YES 30 Oct 1997-070A (25045) KUPON 12 Nov 1997-066B (25024) MAQSAT-B 30 Oct 1997-069E (25043) IRIDIUM 38 09 Nov 1997-066A (25023) MAQSAT-H 30 Oct 1997-069D (25042) IRIDIUM 39 09 Nov 1997-065A (25019) DSCS 3 25 Oct B. Text of Launch Announcements. 1997-074B KIKU-7 is a Japanese spacecraft pair of 2,480 kg mass and was launched from Tanegashima by an H-2 rocket at 21:27 UT. It was to separate as KIKU-7 CHASER and KIKU-7 Target but failed to do so. The prelaunch name of KIKU-7 was ETS-7. Initial orbital parameters were period 93 min, apogee 551 km, perigee 377 km, and inclination 34.9 deg. 1997-074A TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) is an American-Japanese weather spacecraft that was launched by an H-2 rocket from Tanegashima at 21:27 UT. It carries a microwave imager, a visible-infrared sensor, a lightning imager, and a precipitation radar. Initial orbital parameters were period 92 min, apogee 381 km, perigee 366 km, and inclination 35 deg. 1997-73B SPARTAN 201-4 is a resuable American solar observatory module that was released from STS 87. A computer glitch made it unable to obtain attitude control; an effort to recapture it robotically introduced a hazardous spin motion, also. Ultimately, it had to be recaptured by a space walk by two astronauts. During the three days of free-flying, its orbital parameters remained close to those of STS 87. 1997-073A STS 87 is an American shuttle spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral at 19:46 UT. The main goals of the mission were to carry out extra-vehicular activities germane to the likely assembly of the International Space Station, Alpha; to release and retrieve a solar observatory SPARTAN 201-04; and to carry out a list of about eight microgravity experiments. SPARTAN was released but soon malfunctioned; it was, however, recaptured by a space walk by two astronauts after failed attempts to recapture it robotically. A second release was considered but canceled. The Shuttle is expected to land back on 5 December 1997. Initial orbital parameters were period 90.2 min, apogee 286 km, perigee 280 km, and inclination 28.4 deg. 1997-072A RESURS F-1M is a Russian Earth resources spacecraft that was launched by a Soyuz (-U ?) rocket from Plesetsk at 11:15 UT. The 6,300 kg spacecraft was expected to orbit only for 25 days and to release the photo module for safe landing before the spacecraft burns up. Initial orbital parameters were period 88.6 km, apogee 252 km, perigee 196 km, and inclination 82.3 km. 1997-071B CAKRAWARTA 1 is an Indonesian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou at 21:48 UT to provide direct video communications to Indonesia after parking at about 105-E longitude. Its prelaunch name was INDOSTAR 1. 1997-071A SIRIUS 2 is a Swedish geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou at 21:48 UT. It carries 32 Ku band transponders to provide direct video communications to Sweden and neighboring countries after parking at about 5 deg-E longitude. 1997-070A KUPON is a Russian geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baykonur at 17:00 UT. It is intended to facilitate banking transactions in Russia and elsewhere as part of a fleet of the "Bankir" system. The 2,500 kg spacecraft carries enough transponders to handle 10,000 transactions simultaneously. 1997-069A, IRIDIUM 43, IRIDIUM 41, IRIDIUM 40, IRIDIUM 39, IRIDIUM 38 69B,69C, are the latest additions to the American fleet of IRIDIUM 69D,69E spacecraft and were launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg AFB. They enable relay of voice communications among mobile telephones located far away from cellular stations. Initial orbital parameters of all were similar: period 97.4 min, apogee 650 km, perigee 635 km, and inclination 86.6 deg. 1997-068A USA 136 is an American military spacecraft that was launched by a Titan-4A rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station at 02:05 UT. Also named TRUMPET, it is believed to carry an antenna of the size of "two football fields." For additional details see http:// newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/calender/. 1997-067A NAVSTAR 38 (USA 135) is the latest addition to the American GPS fleet of navigational satellites; see section 2-B for more information on the fleet. It was launched by a Delta-2 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station at 00:30 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 722 min, apogee 20,644 km, perigee 19,923 km, and inclination 54.9 deg. 1997-058C SPUTNIK Jr is a scaled-down but operational replica of the first Russian SPUTNIK; it was released from the PROGRESS M36 cargo craft at 01:30 UT on the 50th anniversary of the first SPUTNIK launch. (PROGRESS M36 had been launched on 5 October 1997.) Initial orbital parameters were period 92.3 min, apogee 392 km, perigee 383 km, and inclination 51.7 deg 1997-066A, MAQSAT-H, MAQSAT-B, and YES are the mockup payloads that were -66B,-66C launched by the newly developed Ariane 5 test rocket from Kourou at 14:43 UT. The fuel got shut off a few seconds before the planned time, causing the orbits to be lower than planned. Ariane 5 has been developed with the capability to launch as many as 15 satellites. Initial orbital parameters of all three were similar: period 468 min, apogee 26,700 km, perigee 540 km, and inclination 7 deg. 1997-065A DSCS 3 (Defense Satellite Communications System 3) is an American geosynchronous military spacecraft that was launched by an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station at 00:46 UT. It is the tenth member of the DSCS constellation. 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 at URL http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html#DODSystem. It provides many links to GPS-related data bases. The latest member of the GPS fleet is NAVSTAR 38 (1997-067A), launched on 6 November 1997. 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 or landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. No further information is available. Designations Common Name 1997 1997-072B (25060) R/B SOYUZ-U 23 Nov 1997-011B (24749) R/B ATLAS 2A 19 Nov 1997-070C (25047) R/B PROTON-K 15 Nov 1995-071A (23748) COSMOS 2326 08 Nov 1997-060B (25007) R/B SOYUZ-U 31 Oct 1997-060A (25006) FOTON 23 Oct 1997-043F (24908) R/B DELTA 2 15 Oct 5. Miscellaneous Items. (This section contains information or data that are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the SPACEWARN Bulletin.) 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 the prompt type: copy nssdca::anon_dir:[000000.active.spx]spx.471 Through FTP, at the 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.