SPACEWARN Activities

2007-002A

Progress-M 59 is a Russian automatic cargo carrier that was launched by a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur at 02:12 UT on 18 January, toward the International Space Station (ISS). It carried 2.5 tonnes of food, fuel, water, and equipment and docked with the PIRS module of the ISS at 03:03 UT on 20 January. The craft is also listed (in Russia) as Progress 24, probably counting from the first launch of the current model about 10 years ago. The initial orbital parameters were period 91.3 min, apogee 352 km, perigee 322 km, and inclination 51.6°.

2007-001D

PehuenSat 1 is an Argentinian picosatellite that was launched by a PSLV-C7 rocket from Sriharikota at 03:57 UT on 10 January 2007. The 6.1 kg craft is intended to enable experience building and tracking satellites in Argentina. The initial orbital parameters were period 97.3 min, apogee 641 km, perigee 621 km and inclination 97.9°.

2007-001C

SRE 1 is India's first recoverable capsule that was launched by a PSLV-C7 rocket from Sriharikota at 03:57 UT on 10 January 2007. The 615 kg craft was a technology demonstrator for the planned 2010 launch of a lunar mission, with adequate heat shield, deceleration and floatation systems. It re-entered in the Bay of Bengal precisely as planned at 04:14 UT on 22 January at 150 km east of Sriharikota, and was hauled by a helicopter from a coast guard vessel. The initial orbital parameters were period 95.9 min, apogee 643 km, perigee 486 km, and inclination 97.9°.

2007-001B

CartoSat 2A is an Indian photo-imaging craft that was launched by a PSLV-C7 rocket from Sriharikota at 03:57 UT on 10 January 2007. The 680 kg craft will provide panchromatic images at one-meter resolution, to aid civil planning, and other cartographic needs. The initial orbital parameters were period 97.3 min, apogee 641 km, perigee 621 km, and inclination 97.9°.

2007-001A

LAPAN-Tubsat is an Indonesian microsatellite that was launched by a PSLV-C7 rocket from Sriharikota at 03:57 UT on 10 January 2007. The 45 x 45 x 47 cm, 56 kg craft is a technology demonstrator, and carries two color cameras. The initial orbital parameters were period 97.3 min, apogee 638 km, perigee 620 km, and inclination 97.9°.

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 SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 545. The list will not be repeated in future issues until significantly revised.

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 59, 2006-052A.

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.

According to CSIC the latest additions to the fleet are Glonass 717, Glonass 715, and Glonass 716. Their International IDs are 2006-062A, 2006-062B, and 2006-062C, respectively.

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 (2007)

1993-054C (22781)    R/B Delta 2                      18 January
2006-025A (29245)    PROGRESS-M 57                    17 January
1990-104B (20967)    R/B that launched COSMOS 2106    08 January
2002-049B (27551)    R/B Long March 4B                06 January
2006-063B (29679)    R/B Soyuz 2                      04 January
1994-010C (22997)    R/B Long March 3A                01 January
1986-065D (16925)    R/B(2) that launched COSMOS 1774 28 December 2006
1997-021B (24799)    R/B Long March 3A                24 December 2006
2006-042C (29488)    R/B(1) Delta 2                   23 December 2006
2006-055A (29647)    STS 116  Landed back on          22 December 2006

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.

Cosmos 2426 (Glonass 717, 2006-062A), Cosmos 2424 (Glonass 715, 2006-062B), and Cosmos 2425 (Glonass 716, 2006-062C) are three Russian spacecraft in the Glonass navigational fleet that were launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baikonur at 20:18 UT on 25 December 2006. They are being maneuvered into planned planes/slots. SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 638 carried additional information, but without their Cosmos/Glonass numbers. (These numbers were provided to us by Richard Langley of the University of New Brunswick, Canada.}

A Chinese ICBM was launched on 11 January 2007 by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China (PRC) that destroyed the Chinese Fengyun 1C (1999-025A), a defunct weather satellite into thousands of debris, probably more numerous than were so engendered by another country many years ago. Since the altitude of Fengyun 1C was about 650 km, the swarm of debris is expected to orbit at least for a decade.

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/