SPX-533 1 Apr 1998 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 March 1998 and 31 March 1998.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) 1998-019E (25276) IRIDIUM 60 30 Mar 1998-018B (25263) IRIDIUM 61 25 Mar 1998-019D (25275) IRIDIUM 59 30 Mar 1998-018A (25262) IRIDIUM 51 25 Mar 1998-019C (25274) IRIDIUM 58 30 Mar 1998-017A (25260) SPOT 4 24 Mar 1998-019B (25273) IRIDIUM 57 30 Mar 1998-016A (25258) UHF F/O F8 16 Mar 1998-019A (25272) IRIDIUM 55 30 Mar 1998-015A (25256) PROGRESS M-38 14 Mar B. Text of Launch Announcements. 1998-019E, IRIDIUM 60, IRIDIUM 59, IRIDIUM 58, IRIDIUM 57, and IRIDIUM 55 019D,019C are the latest spacecraft to join the American fleet of IRIDIUMs. 019B,019A They were launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg AFB. The fleet enables global relay of communications between telephones located far away from local cellular areas. Initial orbital parameters were approximately period 97 min, apogee 635 km, perigee 620 km, and inclination 86 deg. 1998-018B, IRIDIUM 61 and IRIDIUM 51 are the latest to join the IRIDIUM 1998-018A fleet of American spacecraft that were launched by a Long March 2C rocket from Taiyuan launch center at 17:01 UT. These satellites enable global relay of communications between telephones located far away from local cellular areas. Initial orbital parameters were approximately period 97 min, apogee 628 km, perigee 626 km, and inclination 86 deg. 1998-017A SPOT 4 is a French remote sensing/reconnoissance spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 40 rocket at 01:46 UT from Kourou. It carries multispectral cameras to monitor vegetation at 1 km resolution and other cameras to provide ten-to-20-meter resolution pictures. Also on board is a DORIS package to ascertain the spacecraft coordinates and a "SILEX" instrument to enable laser transmission of the data to a yet-to-be-launched Artemis satellite. Initial orbital parameters were period 100.9 min, apogee 811 km, perigee 791 km, and inclination 98.8 deg 1998-016A UHF F/O F8 (also known as UFO 8; also may be known as USA 137) is an American geosynchronous military communications spacecraft that was launched by an Atlas 2AS rocket from Cape Canaveral. It is the eighth member of the UFO series; with a mass of 1,000 kg and an electrical power of 1.2 kW, the spacecraft carries 23 UHF channels to provide secure communications around the globe. 1998-015A PROGRESS M-38 is a Russian automatic cargo ship that was launched by a Soyuz-V rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 22:46 UT. It carried a 900-kg propulsion unit to be attached to the Quantum module of MIR, and 1,500 kg of repair tools, replacement parts, food and water. It had to be docked manually with MIR after a slight misalignment was noticed when it was about 15 meters from MIR; it was docked at 00:31 UT on 17 March 1998. Initial orbital parameters were period 88.6 min, apogee 245 km, perigee 192 km, and inclination 51.6 deg. 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 1998 1997-062B (25011) R/B LONGMARCH 3 18 Mar 1998-015B (25257) R/B SOYUZ-V 16 Mar 1997-081A (25102) PROGRESS M-37 16 Mar 1997-059B (25005) R/B ATLAS 2AS 15 mar 1978-094A (11055) COSMOS 1043 27 Feb 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.) The Japanese spacecraft COMETS (1998-011A; post-launch name KAKEHASHI), which failed to attain geosynchronous orbit, is undergoing delta-V maneuvers. The first of the planned seven such maneuvers has now raised the perigee from 250 km to 390 km; the target for the maneuvers is a perigee of 500 km. The Russian geosynchronous spacecraft KUPON (1997-070A) that was launched in November 1997 has been declared inoperational since a vital computer on board has failed. In SPX-532 the name of the spacecraft 1998-010B (25170) was reported as IRIDIUM 51. It should be corrected to read IRIDIUM 56. 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.