Status Report

SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 564 (final) 1 November 2000

By SpaceRef Editor
November 1, 2000
Filed under

SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 564

01 November 2000


A publication of NASA’s National Space Science Data Center/World Data Center for Satellite Information as the WWAS for ISES/COSPAR

SPACEWARN Activities

All information in this publication was received between
1 October 2000 and 31 October 2000.

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 (2000)
  -------------------------------------------------------
   2000-070A   (26603)   Soyuz TMA-1               31 Oct
   2000-069A   (26599)   Beidou                    30 Oct
   2000-068A   (26590)   Europe*Star 1             29 Oct
   2000-067A   (26580)   GE 6                      21 Oct 
   2000-066A   (26578)   Thuraya 1                 21 Oct
   2000-065A   (26575)   USA 153                   20 Oct
   2000-064A   (26570)   Progress M-43             16 Oct
   2000-063C   (26566)   Cosmos 2376               13 Oct
   2000-063B   (26565)   Cosmos 2375               13 Oct
   2000-063A   (26564)   Cosmos 2374               13 Oct
   2000-062A   (26563)   STS 92                    11 Oct
   2000-061A   (26561)   HETE 2                    09 Oct
   2000-060A   (26559)   NSat 110                  06 Oct
   2000-059A   (26554)   GE 1A                     01 Oct

In SPX 563, we had listed five International IDs in Sec.A without the names of
the spacecraft. Brief descriptions of the five spacecraft were, however,
provided in Sec.B. The USSPACECOM have since matched the names and numbers as
follows:

  COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM  SPACECRAFT              LAUNCH
    INT.ID    CAT. #      NAME                 DATE (2000)
  -------------------------------------------------------
   2000-057A   (26545)   Tiungsat 1                26 Sep
   2000-057B   (26546)   Megsat 1                  26 Sep
   2000-057C   (26547)   Unisat                    26 Sep
   2000-057D   (26548)   Saudisat 1A               26 Sep
   2000-057E   (26549)   Saudisat 1B               26 Sep

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

2000-070A Soyuz TMA-1
is Russian passenger transportation satellite that was
launched by a Soyuz-U rocket at 07:52 UT. It carries a crew of three
to dock it with the Zvezda module of the International Space
Station (ISS) at about 09:20 UT on 2 November. The Progress M1-3 cargo
craft that remains docked with Zvezda will first be evicted to make
way for the Soyuz. The crew of two Russian and one American
cosmonauts will spend over three months in the ISS, and return to
Earth in an American shuttle (STS 102) in February 2001. In the
initial days, the crew will bring a variety of life support systems
on-line, and create a lap-top computer network that will help run all
systems in the ISS. The remaining months will be allotted for
exercise and space endurance practice. The crew is the first batch
of a decade-long “permanent inhabitation” of the ISS. Initial
orbital parameters of the Soyuz TMA-1 were period 92.2 min,
apogee 383 km, perigee 374 km, and inclination 51.6 deg.
2000-069A Beidou
is a Chinese (PRC) test model of a navigational system
satellite that was launched by a Long March 3A rocket from Xichang
launch center in south-west China at 16:30 UT (00:02 Beijing Time).
When completed, the Beidou Navigational System (BNS) will help to
locate and navigate highway, railway, and oceanic transportation.
Initial orbital parameters were period 753 min, apogee 41,887 km,
perigee 173 km, and inclination 25 deg.
2000-068A Europe*Star 1
(with that embedded “*” in the name) is a European
geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by an
Ariane 44LP rocket at 04:59 UT from Kourou. The 4.2 tonne (with
fuel) spacecraft carries 30 Ku-band transponders to provide
direct-to-home video, internet, and high speed data transmission among
South Africa, Europe and the Indian subcontinent after parking over
45 deg-E longitude. It was the 100th successful launch by Ariane
rockets, almost coinciding with the 100th successful launch of the
American Shuttle mission.
2000-067A GE 6
is an American geosynchronous communications spacecraft
that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baikonur at 22:00 UT.
It carries 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders to provide
direct-to-home voice, video and data transmission to America and the
Caribbean countries after parking over 83 deg-W longitude.
2000-066A Thuraya 1
is a United Arab Emirate (UAE) geosynchronous
communications spacecraft that was launched at 05:52 UT by a Zenit
3SL rocket from a floating Sea Launch platform in the equatorial
Pacific. The 3,200 kg (5,100 kg with fuel), 13 kW spacecraft is
designed to handle thousands of voice, fax, and data transmissions
simultaneously from/to mobile telephones, via its 128-element
phased array antenna of 12 m x 16 m dimension in the L-band, after
parking over 44 deg-E longitude.
2000-065A USA 153
is an American geosynchronous military communications
spacecraft that was launched by an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape
Canaveral. It is a member of the fleet of Defense Satellite
Communications System (DSCS). The communications will be in six
channels covering the frequency band of 50-85 MHz.
2000-064A Progress M-43
is a Russian automatic cargo carrier that was
launched from Baikonur at 21:27 UT by a Soyuz-U rocket. It carried
food and fuel for a probable crew that may enter Mir early 2001. It
docked with Mir after four days of orbiting, rather than the usual
two days. This slow docking enabled the cargo ship to conserve 150 kg
of fuel that will be spent in raising Mir to a higher altitude from
the currently perilous orbit. Initial orbital parameters of Progress
M-43 were period 91.4 min, apogee 359 km, perigee 331 km, and
inclination 51.7 deg.
2000-063A, 2000-063B,
  2000-063C
Cosmos 2374 (Glonass 783), Cosmos 2375 (Glonass 787),
and Cosmos 2376 (Glonass 788)
are the latest additions to the Russian fleet of
Glonass navigational system, and were launched by a Proton-K rocket
from Baikonur at 18:10 UT. The Cosmos/Glonass numbers are matched
according to the Russian sources, but the match of names and IDs are
often uncertain in any multiple launch. If that matching is revised,
a later issue of the Bulletin will carry that list. More details of
the Glonass fleet may be accessed through Sec. C-2 below. Initial
orbital parameters of all three were similar: period 675.5 min,
apogee 19,129 km, perigee 19,120 km and inclination 64.8 deg.
2000-062A STS 92
is an American shuttle spacecraft that was launched from
Cape Canaveral at 23:17 UT. The crew carried out space walks to
install a 8.5 tonne, aluminum Z-1 truss on the Unity module. The
truss is intended to support a football-field sized solar array
that will be installed during a later mission in December 2000. A
triaxial attitude control gyroscope and a Ku-band satellite dish
were then installed on the truss. The crew also installed a major
1.2 tonne docking port named Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA) on
the Unity module. They fired thrusters in the shuttle to raise the
altitude of the ISS. Among other activities was a practice run of a
device named SAFER (Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue) to rescue an
untethered astronaut and to assess whether a dead or gravely ill
spacewalker could also be retrieved back to a shuttle or the ISS.
The shuttle landed in Edwards AFB in California on 24 October at
20:59 UT. A Cape Canaveral landing had to be cancelled because of
persistent bad weather in southern Florida. The potential uses
of the ISS for furthering science and engineering are outlined in a
NASA site, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/science/.
STS 92 was the 100th successful shuttle mission, almost coinciding
with the 100th successful launch of the European Ariane rocket.
Initial orbital parameters of the STS 92 were period 92 min, apogee
381 km, perigee 380 km, and inclination 51.6 deg.
2000-061A HETE 2
(High Energy Transient Explorer) is an American astrophysical
research spacecraft that was launched at 05:38 UT from over
Kwajalein Missile Range (in the Marshall Islands) by a Pegasus rocket
released from a L-1011 cargo aircraft that flew out of Vandenberg
AFB. (An earlier version, HETE 1 had failed on launch in 1996.) The
130 kg satellite carries three instruments to measure gamma
rays and x-rays in the bands 6-400, 2-25, and 0.5-10 keV. As soon
as a radiation burst is recorded by the instruments, an automatic
alarm will be relayed to a number of ground astronomy stations
around the world to look for the source in visible wavelengths. The
sources to look for will always be in the anti-solar direction
monitored by HETE 2. These very rare/transient bursts are presumed
to be extra-galactic, but source identification remains elusive.
Ongoing updates to the mission may be accessible through
http://space.mit.edu/HETE/. Initial orbital parameters were period 97 min,
apogee 637 km, perigee 594 km, and inclination 2 deg.
2000-060A NSat 110
is a Japanese geosynchronous communications spacecraft
that was launched by an Ariane 42L rocket from Korou at 23:00 UT.
It carries 24 Ku-band transponders to provide direct-to-home
television, internet and data transmission service to all of Japan
after parking over approximately 135 deg-E longitude.
2000-059A GE 1A
is an American geosynchronous communications spacecraft that
was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baikonur at 22:00 UT. The 3.9
tonne satellite will provide direct-to-home voice, video and data
transmission in India, China and Philippines through its 24 C-band
and 24 Ku-band transponders.

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. (“NNN” denotes no national name. SPACEWARN
    would appreciate 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
    http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html#DODSystem
    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.
    Entries marked “*” are updates or additions to the 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 2374 (2000-063A),
    Cosmos 2375 (2000-063B) and Cosmos 2376 (2000-063C) that were launched on
    13 October 2000. See Sec. A above.

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

    Designations         Common Name              Decay Date (2000)
    
    1997-067B (25031) R/B Delta 2                       26 Oct
    2000-062A (26563) STS 92              Landed on     24 Oct
    2000-021A (26301) PROGRESS M1-2                     24 Oct
    1995-018A (23549) OFEQ 3                            24 Oct
    2000-067B (26581) R/B Proton-K                      23 Oct
    1998-042B (25390) TUBSAT N1                         21 Oct
    1996-015B (23817) R/B Ariane 44LP                   19 Oct
    2000-064B (26571) R/B Soyuz-U                       18 Oct
    1995-039A (23632) INTERBALL_TAIL                    16 Oct
    2000-063E (26568) R/B Proton-K                      15 Oct
    2000-040B (26408) R/B Delta 2                       14 Oct
    2000-056B (26539) R/B Zenit 2                       11 Oct
    1998-012B (25234) BATSAT                            09 Oct
    1996-041B (23954) R/B Delta 2                       08 Oct
    1991-087F (21829) R/B Proton                        08 Oct
    1998-068B (25547) R/B Delta 2                       07 Oct
    1997-086D (25129) R/B Proton-K                      07 Oct
    2000-013E (26104) R/B Proton-K                      05 Oct
    2000-059B (26555) R/B Proton-K                      03 Oct
    2000-058B (26553) R/B Soyuz-U                       02 Oct
    2000-038B (26403) R/B Atlas 2A                      01 Oct
    1999-026C (25737) R/B Pegasus                       24 Sep
    1999-069B (25995) Atlas 2A                          21 Sep
    

  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.)

    Geoffrey Lindop of Carlisle, England has kindly drawn our attention to an
    error in SPX 562. There Raduga-1 5 (2000-049A) was reported to have an
    alternative name, Cosmos 2372. Errors of this kind occur because we use FBIS
    messages from Moscow quoting local TV or newspapers as one of the sources of
    information. In fact, as SPX 563 reported, Cosmos 2372 (2000-056A) was
    launched a month later.

  6. 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 accessed via anonymous FTP from NSSDC.
    (See About the SPACEWARN Bulletin
    for access method; a file in the active directory named AAREADME.TXT,
    outlines the contents.)

    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

SpaceRef staff editor.