SPACEWARN Bulletin 585 – 3 Sep 2002

SPACEWARN Activities

All information in this publication was received between
1 August 2002 and 31 August 2002.

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UTC).

USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.

  COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM  SPACECRAFT              LAUNCH
    INT.ID    CAT. #      NAME                   DATE (UT)
  --------------------------------------------------------
   2002-040B    (27509)  MSG 1               28 August 2002
   2002-040A    (27508)  Atlantic Bird       28 August 2002
   2002-039A    (27501)  Echostar 8          22 August 2002
   2002-038A    (27499)  Hot Bird 6          21 August 2002

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

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. Updates or corrections to the list are possible only with
   information from the user community.)

   Note:
   The full list appeared in SPX 545.
   The list will not be repeated in future issues until significantly revised again.

2. Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational
   purposes and geodetic studies.

   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
   http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html
   It provides many links to GPS related databases.

3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS
   constellation. (SPACEWARN requests updates/additions from readers to this list.)

   All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general COSMOS series. The COSMOS numbers
   (nnnn) invoked by USSPACECOM have often differed from the numbers (NNNN)
   associated in Russia; when different, the USSPACECOM COSMOS numbers are shown
   in parentheses. The corresponding GLONASS numbers are Russian numbers, followed
   by the numbers in parentheses that are sometimes attributed to them outside
   Russia.

   The operating frequencies in MHz are computed from the channel number K.
   Frequencies (MHz) = 1602.0 + 0.5625K and L2 = 1246.0 + 0.4375K.

   The standard format of the GLONASS situation appeared in SPX-545. It
   will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at:
   http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/english.html
   maintained by the Coordinational
   Scientific Information Center (CSIC),Russian Space Forces.

   The latest addition to the GLONASS fleet are Cosmos 2380, Cosmos 2381, and
   Cosmos 2382.

4. Visually bright objects.

   A comprehensive list of visually bright
   objects with their two-line orbital elements is available from USSPACECOM, via a
   NASA site, http://oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov/files/visible.tle. The list, however,
   does not include visual magnitudes, but are expected to be brighter than
   magnitude 5.

5. Actual decays/landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B)
   only. No further information is available.

   Designations         Common Name                  Decay Date (2002)
   
   2002-037B (27471)  R/B(1) Proton-K                        26 July
   1999-072A (26040)  COSMOS 2367                            20 July
   2000-042C (26904)  PICOSAT 7&8 (Tethered)                 11 July
   2002-034B (27458)  R/B(1) Delta 2                         06 July
   2002-022B (27425)  R/B Delta 2                            02 July
   2002-007B (27381)  R/B Ariane 44L                         01 July
   2001-034B (26885)  R/B(1) Delta 2                         01 July
   

6. 60-day Decay Predictions.

   The USSPACECOM forecasts and maintains a
   list of decays of orbiting objects expected in the next 60 days , with fair
   accuracy. The list may be accessed through a NASA site,
   http://oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov/scripts/foxweb.exe/app01?.
   as follows:

   1. Select “OIG Main Page”.
   2. Select “Send Message to System administrator”, who will provide a login account.
   3. After getting an ID and a Password, click on “Registered User Login”.
      (Step (2) is not needed after obtaining an account.)
   4. Select “Continue”.
   5. Select “General information”.
   6. Select “Reports”.
   7. Select “Sixty Day Decay…”.

   Note: The login requirement is enforced due to the events on 11 September 2001.

7. Miscellaneous Items. (This section contains information/data that
   are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the
   SPACEWARN Bulletin.)

   CONTOUR spacecraft (2002-034A) is reported to have lost contact with the
   ground control. A thruster was ignited on 15 August 2002 to boost it into
   a heliocentric orbit so as to obtain images of two comets over the next few
   years. But soon after the ignition there was no contact. Ground based
   telescopes seem to have photographed the spacecraft as two separate pieces.
   NASA has appointed panel to investigate the cause.

   The CRL, Kokubunji, Japan has notified us that NASDA expects to launch a
   geostationary DRTS (Data Relay Test Satellite) on 10 September 2002 by a
   H-IIA rocket.

   It appears that there is no national or international organization that
   defines the various alphabetically designated Communication and Broadcasting
   frequency bands. One of the extant lists has the following coverages. The
   Spacewarn Bulletin would appreciate input from the reader community to update
   the coverage status. (wwas@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov)

                L-Band   1.35-1.70 GHz
                S-Band   1.70-2.30 GHz;   2.30-2.70 GHz
                C-Band   3.40-4.20 GHz;   4.40-5.00 GHz; 5.725-8.40 GHz
               Ku-Band  10.00-13.25 GHz; 14.00-15.40 GHz
                K-Bnad  17.30-24.05 GHz
               Ka-Band  25.25-31.80 GHz
   

8. Related NSSDC resources.

   NSSDC/WDC for Satellite Information is an archival center for science
   data from many spacecraft. Many space physics datasets are on-line for
   electronic access through:
   http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/

   For off-line data, 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 obtained from:
   ftp://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/miscellaneous/orbits/

   Other files interest for Earth-centered spacecraft can be generated through the URL,
   http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/

   Programs related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed
   through the URL,
   http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/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/sc-query.html