SPACEWARN Activities

2005-038A

Navstar 57, also known as USA 183 and as GPS 2R-M1 (and as GPS 2R-14), was launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral AFS at 03:37 UT on 26 September 2005. It has three more frequency channels (with two more military and one more civilian), and is more secure against jamming and radiation than the older models. It will be positioned in Slot 4 of Plane C, taking over the duties of the aging GPS 2A-20 (that was launched in May 1993). It is planned to replace all of the older members of the 28-satellite fleet with updated 2R-M versions in a few years. The initial orbital parameters of Navstar 57 were period 357 min, apogee 20,328 km, perigee 266 km, and inclination 39.62°. (The perigee will be raised to about 20,000 km soon.)

2005-037A

STP-R1, also known as USA 185, is an American military (DARPA) technology test/demonstration satellite that was launched by a Minotaur 1 rocket (which is a modified Minuteman 2 ICBM) from Vandenburg AFB at 02:24 UT on 23 September 2005. The initial orbital parameters were period 90.69 min, apogee 321 km, perigee 296 km, and inclination 96.3°.

2005-036A

Anik F1R is a Canadian Geostationary communications satellite that was launched by a proton-M rocket from Baikonur at 21:53 UT. The 4 tonne, 10 kW satellite carries 24 C-band, and 32 Ku-band transponders to provide voice, video and internet communications to all of North America after parking over 107.3° W longitude. It replaces the aging Anik F1 satellite.

2005-035A

Progress-M 54 is a Russian automatic cargo transportation satellite that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 13:08 UT on 08 September. It carried 2.4 tonnes of food, water, oxygen, fuel, and equipment to supply the International Space Station (ISS). It docked with the Zvezda module of the ISS automatically at 14:50 UT on 10 September, and delivered the cargo. In preparation for the docking, the previously docked Progress-M 53, carrying a full load of trash, was undocked and allowed to deorbit and burn away. The initial orbital parameters were period 91.5 min, apogee 350 km, perigee 348 km, and inclination 51.6°.

2005-034A

Cosmos 2415 is a Russian military satellite that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 09:50 UT on 02 September 2005. The initial orbital parameters were period 89.3 min, apogee 281 km, perigee 196 km, and inclination 64.9°.

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.

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 400 dedicated global stations that are of interest to geodetic study may be obtained through the following services provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS). The IGS is a service of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG).

     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 SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 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.

The latest addition to the fleet is Navstar 57, 2005-038A.

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 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 last appeared in SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 545. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at: http://www.glonass-ianc.rsa.ru/ maintained by the Information-Analytical Center (IAC), Russian Space Agency.

Visually bright objects.

See http://www.space-track.org/perl/bulk_files.pl. Users must register. Conditions apply.

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

Designations         Common Name                  Decay Date (2005)

2005-032B (28823)   R/B Rockot                       13 September
2005-033D (28827)   R/B Long March 2-4               12 September
1991-062A (21694)   YOHKOH                           12 September
2005-035B (28867)   R/B Soyuz-U                      11 September
2005-034B (28842)   R/B Soyuz-U                      08 September
2005-021A (28700)   PROGRESS-M 53                    07 September

60-day Decay Predictions.

See http://www.space-track.org/perl/60day_decay_predict.pl. Users must register for access. Conditions apply

Miscellaneous Items.

This section contains information or data that are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the SPACEWARN Bulletin.

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 690.1, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information (nssdc-request@listserv.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:
http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/miscellaneous/orbits/

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

Programs related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed through the URL:
http://cohoweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/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/nmc/