SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 571

SPACEWARN Activities

All information in this publication was received between 1 May 2001 and 31 May 2001.

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

  COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM  SPACECRAFT              LAUNCH
    INT.ID    CAT. #      NAME                 DATE (2001)
  -------------------------------------------------------
   2001-022A   (26775)   Cosmos 2377             29 May
   2001-021A   (26773)   Progress M1-6           21 May
   2001-020A   (26770)   USA 158                 18 May
   2001-019A   (26766)   PAS 10                  15 May
   2001-018A   (25761)   XM 1                    08 May

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. ("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.

4. Visually bright objects.

   A comprehensive list of visually bright objects with their two-line orbital elements is available from USSPACECOM, via a NASA URL, 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 (2001)
   
   1979-005B (11252)  R/B  that launched METEOR 1-29          24 May
   2000-049F (26502)  R/B (aux. mot.) Proton-K                23 May
   2001-021B (26774)  R/B Soyuz-FG                            22 May
   1983-090A (14313)  MOLNIYA 3-31                            22 May
   2001-019B (26767)  R/B Proton-K                            16 May
   1985-105A (16235)  COSMOS 1701                             11 May
   1979-067B (11458)  R/B that launched COSMOS 1116           10 May
   1984-055A (15027)  COSMOS 1569                             07 May
   2000-070A (26603)  SOYUZ-TM 31                             06 May
   1997-082D (25107)  IRIDIUM 48                              05 May
   2000-023A (26354)  COSMOS 2370                             04 May
   2001-016A (26747)  STS 100                     returned on 01 May
   

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

7. 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://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/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

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, 31 May 2001
Last updated: 02 July 2001, EVB II