SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 505

SPACEWARN Activities

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.

1995-063A (23717) GALS 2         Nov 17
1995-062A (23715) ISO            Nov 17
1995-061A (23714) STS 74         Nov 12
1995-060A (23712) USA 115        Nov 06
1995-059B (23711) SURFSAT        Nov 04
1995-059A (23710) RADARSAT 1     Nov 04
1995-058A (23704) Cosmos 2322    Oct 31
 

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

1995-063A

GALS 2 is a Russian television relaying geostationary spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 14:25 UT. The 2.5 ton spacecraft carries three multichannel high power transponders so that ground stations in the far-eastern Siberia and the pacific coast countries can capture signals with small dishes.

1995-062A

ISO (Infrared Space Observatory), an ESA spacecraft, was launched by an Ariane rocket from Kourou base in French Guiana at 01:20 UT. The 2.5 tonne spacecraft of height 5.3 m and diameter 2.3 m carries a telescope with a primary mirror of 60 cm diameter. The mirror feeds (a) a visual photopolarimeter at 2-245 microns, providing images at 100-200 micron wavelengths through two cameras, and spectra at 3-16 microns; (b) a camera to provide sky maps at 2.5-17 microns; and (c) a spectrometer at 2.5-45 microns. The 2,150 liters of liquid helium supply will enable about 20 months of operation of all instruments. A few days after launch, the orbital parameters were period 24 hr, apogee 70,500 km, perigee 1,000 km, and inclination 5.25 deg.

1995-061A

STS 74 is an American shuttle spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral to dock with the Russian space station, MIR. The main mission was the docking exercise to transport to/from MIR about 500 kg of supplies. The docking module that was carried by STS 74 was successfully installed on MIR and remained after the end of the mission whose purpose was to develop know-how's for building a proposed international space station, Alpha. Initial orbital parameters of the STS were period 92.4 min, apogee 396 km, perigee 391 km, and inclination 51.6 deg.

1995-060A

USA 115, also known as MILSTAR 2, is an American military spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station by a Titan 4 rocket. The geostationary 4,500 kg spacecraft will be parked at 4 deg, east longitude. Developed during the days of nuclear war threats, the jam-proof and virtually disruption-proof spacecraft has capability to transpond securely an extensive volume of information with simultaneous access to a thousand users. Its companion, MILSTAR 1, remains parked at 120 deg, west; four more will join the constellation during 1999-2002.

1995-059B

SURFSAT (Summer Under-graduate Research Fellowship SATellite) is an American microsatellite that was designed to assist tests on the upgraded soft-/hardware at the Deep Space Network stations that are primarily dedicated to capture the weak signals from Heliospheric probes. The 55 kg spacecraft remained attached to the second stage of the Delta 2 rocket (that had launched RADARSAT 1). Initial orbital parameters were period 109.6 min, apogee 1,495 km, perigee 935 km, and inclination 100.6 deg.

1995-059A

RADARSAT 1 is a Canadian remote sensing spacecraft that was launched from Vandenberg AFB by a Delta 2 rocket at 14:22 UT. It carries a synthetic aperture radar for mapping natural resources. Initial orbital parameters were period 100.6 min, apogee 790 km, perigee 785 km, and inclination 98.6 deg.

1995-058A

Cosmos 2322, a Russian military spacecraft, was launched by a Zenit-2 rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 19:19 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 101.97 min, apogee 877.9 km, perigee 851.9 km, and inclination 71 deg.

C. Spacecraft Particularly Suited for International Participation

Category I

1. Spacecraft with essentially continuous radio beacons on frequencies less than 150 MHz, or higher frequencies if especially suited for ionospheric or geodetic studies. To see a list select here.
2. Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational purposes and geodetic studies. To see a list select here.

   The GPS 2-NN series orbit in six distinct planes that are about 60 deg apart. Each plane has four "slots." Following are the 2-NN members in the planes/slots. The RAAN decreases by about 1.0 deg each month; below are their approximate RAAN longitudes in November 95.

   PLANE    RAAN OF PLANE     SLOT-1     SLOT-2      SLOT-3      SLOT-4
   
     A          *235           2-21       2-12        2-15        2-04
     B          *296           2-18       2-07        2-02        2-22
     C          *357           2-24       2-13        2-19        2-20
     D          * 62           2-11       2-09        2-05        2-23
     E          *119           2-01       2-08        2-03        2-10
     F          *177           2-16       2-14        2-06        2-17
   

3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation. To see a list select here.

   The GLONASS NNN series orbit in three distinct planes that are 120 deg apart. Each plane has eight "slots". Following are the members of the planes/slots.

          Plane1               Plane2              Plane3
   slot1   771         slot 9              slot17   760
   slot2   757         slot10   781        slot18   758
   slot3   763         slot11   785        slot19   777
   slot4   762         slot12   767        slot20   765
   slot5   249         slot13              slot21   756
   slot6   764         slot14   770        slot22   766
   slot7   759         slot15   780        slot23   761
   slot8   769         slot16   775        slot24   774
   

   Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC) Russian Space Forces
   E-mail: sfcsic@iki3.bitnet; sfcsic@iki3.iki.rssi.ru; sfcsic@mx.iki.rssi.ru
   Home page WWW.IKI: http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/SFCSIC_main.html

4. Actual decays/landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. Additional information is not available.

   Designations         Common Name                    1995
   
   1980-092A (12066)  MOLNIYA 1-48                    18 Nov
   1995-063C (23719)  R/B GALS 2                      18 Nov
   1985-025B (15631)  R/B INTELSAT 5A F-10            11 Nov
   1995-050A (23672)  RESURS F-20                     26 Oct
   

   (The descent module of RESURS F-20, with photographic data, had parachuted down safely.)
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.)

   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 NSSDC Request Coordination Office, Code 633, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information (REQUEST@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV). 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 About the SPACEWARN Bulletin for access method; a file in the ACTIVE directory named AAREADME.DOC, outlines the contents.) It can also be accessed via the WWW at:
   http://sscop1.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc.html

   This URL also enables executing several codes related to the orbits of many geocentric science payload spacecraft. The codes related to the heliospheric spacecraft trjectories can be executed through:
   http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/helios/heli.html

Questions/comments about the content of these pages should be directed to: The World Warning Agency for Satellites, wwas@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov National Space Science Data Center, Mail Code 633 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

NASA Official: J. H. King, joe.king@gsfc.nasa.gov
V1.0: 29 November 1995
Last Updated: 12 December 1995, EVB II