Status Report

SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 565 Final

By SpaceRef Editor
December 6, 2000
Filed under ,

SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 565

01 December 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)
  -------------------------------------------------------
   2000-077A   (26626)   Sirius 3                 30 Nov
   2000-076A   (26624)   Anik F1                   21 Nov
   2000-075C   (26621)   Munin                     21 Nov
   2000-075B   (26620)   SAC-C                     21 Nov
   2000-075A   (26619)   EO 1                      21 Nov
   2000-074A   (26617)   Quickbird 1               20 Nov
   2000-073A   (26615)   Progress-M1 4             16 Nov
   2000-072D   (26611)   STRV 1D                   16 Nov
   2000-072C   (26610)   STRV 1C                   16 Nov 
   2000-072B   (26609)   Amsat P3D (Amsat Oscar 40)16 Nov
   2000-072A   (26608)   PAS 1R                    16 Nov
   2000-071A   (26605)   Navstar 49 (USA 154)      10 Nov

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

2000-077A Sirius 3
(also known as SD-Radio 3) is an American geosynchronous
radio satellite that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from
Baikonur at 19:59 UT. The 3.9 tonne satellite carries 100 channels
in the 2.320-2.325 GHz band to relay music, news, and entertainment
directly to motorists in America. There are also 90 dedicated
ground-based relay stations in dense urban areas that will
rebroadcast the signals. This launch completes the planned fleet of
three satellites which will become operational in January 2001.
Reception requires installation of a special radio, or purchase of
one of the upscale automobiles pre-equipped with the receiver.
The geosynchronous orbit of Sirius 3 has a high inclination of 63.3
degrees (same as Sirius 1 and Sirius 2 have).
2000-076A Anik F1
is a Canadian geosynchronous communications spacecraft
that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou at 23:56 UT.
The 4.7 tonne (with fuel), 17.5 kW spacecraft carries 36 C-band and
48 Ku-band transponders to provide direct-to-home (DTH) digital
telecommunications to all locations in Canada, USA, and the
Caribbean after parking over 107.3 deg-W longitude.
2000-075C Munin
is a Swedish auroral research nanosatellite that was launched
by a Delta 2 rocket at 13:24 UT from Vandenberg AFB. The 6 kg,
cubical spacecraft with solar cells covering all sides is a
student-built spacecraft, and carries a combined electron-ion
spectrometer and a solid state detector for high energy particles.
Also on-board is a miniature CCD camera to image auroras. Only the
interesting data over auroral passes will be captured, compressed,
and stored in a 2 MB memory for downloading during Kiruna (Sweden)
passes. Initial orbital parameters were period 110 min, apogee
1,794 km, perigee 693 km, and inclination 95.4 deg.
2000-075B SAC-C
is an International (Argentina plus USA, France, Italy,
Denmark, and Brazil) satellite that was launched by a Delta 2
rocket at 13:24 UT from Vandenberg AFB. Its mission is to
remotely-sense vegetation, wetlands, and ecosystem in four wavelength
bands covering 0.4-1.75 microns, with a spatial resolution of 1 km.
The orbital planes of SAC-C, EO 1, Landsat 7 (1999-020A), and Terra
(1999-068A) are closely coplanar, with a given site being
successively visited by each spacecraft within an hour of each
other. Also on-board is the GOLPE (GPS OccuLtation and Passive
reflection Experiment) with a GPS receiver receiving signals from
the GPS fleet (a) directly, (b) after reflection from Earth’s
surface, and (c) after the signals traversed the dense atmosphere
and ionosphere tangentially. These tangentially penetrating signals
carry phase change information which may be utilized in deriving
the atmospheric density/temperature structures, and the ionospheric
electron density profiles. It carries a Helium Magnetometer also.
More details are available through http://orbis.conae.gov.ar/sac-c/.
Initial orbital parameters were period 98.7 min, apogee 701 km,
perigee 682 km, and inclination 98.2 deg.
2000-075A EO 1
(Earth Observing mission 1) is the first spacecraft in the
American New Millennium Program (NMP) and was launched by a Delta 2
rocket from Vandenberg AFB at 13:24 UT. The 573 kg spacecraft
carries three well-developed instruments (and seven technology-test
items) to image Earth’s surface in numerous wavelength bands. The
Hyperion is a grating-imaging spectrometer and will image the
surface in 220 spectral bands covering 0.4-2.5 micron wavelengths
at a resolution of 30 meters. It is expected to provide better crop
estimates, and better mineral resource areas than are being provided
by Landsat 7. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) is a wide field (15 deg
x 1.26 deg) reflective optics telescope that will provide images in
10 wavelength bands covering 0.4-2.4 microns with a spatial
resolution of 30 meters. It is designed to produce images that are
directly comparable to the ones from the ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic
Mapper Plus) instrument on board Landsat 7, and thus provide
continuity of data. The third instrument, LAC (LEISA Atmospheric
Corrector) covers the 0.890-1.600 micron wavelength IR band by
means of a wedged etalon filter and three arrays (256 x 256) of
In-Ga detectors, each array covering a five deg swath width with a
spatial resolution of 250 meters. It will aid in correcting the data
from the other instruments for water vapor and cirrus cloud
variations. Among the new technology test/demonstration items is the
XPAA (X-band Phased Array Antenna) with 64 elements powered by a 160
W transmitter that sends data at a rate of 105 MB per second.
Additional information on EO 1 can be obtained from
http://eo1.nasa.gov/Technology/Documents/InstrumentOverview.html.
The initial
orbital parameters were period 98.7 min, apogee 700 km, perigee 690
km, and inclination 98.21 deg.
2000-074A Quickbird 1
is an American remote-sensing and imaging spacecraft
that was launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome by a Cosmos-3 rocket at
23:00 UT. The spacecraft could not be sighted or commanded after
the first orbit. A report has it that the second stage did not
complete its burn, or that the nose cone may not have been ejected.
It re-entered the atmosphere on the next day.
2000-073A Progress-M1 4
is a Russian automatic cargo delivery spacecraft
that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 01:33 UT. It
carried 1.8 tonnes of material, food, water, clothes and other
necessities for the three-man crew now in the International Space
Stations (ISS). It made a guided docking with the nadir port in the
Zarya module at 03:48 UT on 18 November after an unsuccessful
attempt at automatic docking. Initial orbital parameters were
period 92 min, apogee 379 km, perigee 372 km, and inclination 51.57
deg.
2000-072C, 2000-072D STRV 1C and STRV 1D
are two British microsatellites that were
launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou at 01:07 UT. The 100 kg
spacecraft carry technology-test devices such as lithium ion
batteries, a new communications system that allows a high degree of
security, and a GPS receiver. Initial orbits of both were similar:
period 708 min, apogee 39,269 km, perigee 615 km, and inclination
6.4 deg.
2000-072B Amsat P3D
(also known as Phase 3-D, and as Amsat Oscar 40) is an
international amateur radio spacecraft (of the German organization,
AMateur radio SATellites) that was launched by an Ariane 5 rocket
from Kourou at 01:07 UT. The 400 kg, 250 W spacecraft is the largest
amateur-support spacecraft, carrying 5 receivers (in the HF,
VHF/UHF, L, S, and C bands) and seven transmitters (in the HF, K,
VHF/UHF, S, and X bands). Also carried on-board are some experimental
instruments such as two cosmic ray monitors named TDE, and CPE, two
wide-angle cameras in the SCOPE unit available for the amateurs to
command their images from locations of interest, a passive
ionospheric “sounder” to scan the 0.5 to 30.0 MHz band so as to
derive the electron densities in the upper part of the ionosphere,
and a GPS-receiver to locate the spacecraft position. Initial
orbital parameters were period 708 min, apogee 39,269 km, perigee
615 km, and inclination 6.4 deg.
2000-072A PAS 1R
(PanAmSat 1R) is an American geosynchronous communications
spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou at
01:07 UT. The 1,200 kg, 15 kW spacecraft carries 36 C-band and 36
Ku-band transponders to provide direct-to-home (DTH) digital video
and internet services to Europe and the Americas after parking over
45 deg-W longitude.
2000-071A Navstar 49
(USA 154) is an American navigational satellite in the
GPS fleet that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket at 17:14 UT from
Vandenberg AFB. More details on the GPS fleet may be accessed from
Section C-2 below. Initial orbital parameters were period 724.3 min,
apogee 20,498 km, perigee 20,177 km, and inclination 55.1 deg.

In SPX 564, we had tentatively matched the three Cosmos/Glonass spacecraft
with International IDs and Catalog numbers. The latest message from the
USSPACECOM confirms our matching:

  COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM  SPACECRAFT              LAUNCH
    INT.ID    CAT. #      NAME                 DATE (2000)
  -------------------------------------------------------
   2000-063A   (26564)   Cosmos 2374 (Glonass 783) 13 Oct
   2000-063B   (26565)   Cosmos 2375 (Glonass 787) 13 Oct
   2000-063C   (26566)   Cosmos 2376 (Glonass 788) 13 Oct

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.

    The latest addition to the GPS fleet is the NAVSTAR 49 (2000-071A).

    An e-mail communication from Richard B. Langley is
    available which provides a status of the Navstar GPS Constellation as of
    21 November 2000.

  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)
    
    1996-010E (23824) R/B Proton-K                      23 Nov
    2000-074A (26617) QUICKBIRD                         21 Nov
    2000-058A (26552) COSMOS 2373                       14 Nov
    1989-078A (20255) MOLNIYA 1-76                      11 Nov
    1997-067C (25032) NAVSTAR 44 R/B (PAMD)             10 Nov
    1997-075C (25069) Ariane 44P                        07 Nov       
    1995-039D (23635) R/B Molniya-M                     03 Nov
    2000-070B (26604) R/B Soyuz-U                       01 Nov
    2000-044A (26461) PROGRESS M1-3                     01 Nov
    1995-008A (23501) COSMOS 2306                       30 Oct 
    

  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.)

  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.