SPACEWARN Activities

2010-033A

Progress-M 06M is a Russian unmanned cargo delivery vessel that was launched atop a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 30 June 2010 at 15:35 UT. The vessel was launched to the International Space Station to replenish supplies, food and fuel. The launch is known as Progress mission 38P and is carrying 1,210 kg in parts, life support and equipment hardware. The spacecraft also carries 870 kg of propellant for transfer into the Russian segment of the complex to fuel the station's maneuvering thrusters. The vessel also carries 100 kg of water and 50 kg of oxygen and air. It will remain attached to the station for two months.

2010-032A,
  2010-032B

Arabsat 5A and COMS 1 were launched into orbit from Kourou, French Guiana. The Ariane 5 commercial launcher lifted off at 21:41 UT.

Arabsat 5A is a 4,839 kg Saudi Arabian satellite that is the second spacecraft launched this month for the Arab Satellite Communications Organization. It is equipped with a payload featuring 26 active transponders in the C-band and 24 in the Ku-band. Arabsat 5A will provide additional capacity at 30.5° E for a large range of satellite communications services for television, telephony, business communications, Internet and the provision of VSAT and other interactive services over sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East.

COMS 1 (Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite) is a 2,460 kg South Korean, highly advanced multi-mission satellite and has three payloads: one for meteorology, one for ocean observation and one for communications. COMS will provide meteorology data to end-users around the globe, oceanography data for the Korean peninsula and experimental communications services in the Ka-band, all from its orbital location at 128° E.

2010-031A

Ofeq 9 is a 300 kg Israeli military imaging satellite which was boosted into orbit on a Shavit rocket from the Palmachim air base on the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv on 22 June 2010 at 19:00 UT.

2010-030A

TanDEM-X was launched on a Dnepr rocket on 21 June 2010 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 02:14 UT. TanDEM-X stands for TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement. It is a German radar mapping satellite that will fly in close formation with the TerraSAR-X to gather precise elevation data. The satellite will provide homogenous 3D elevation models of the Earth. TanDEM-X is designed to work for at least five years, including a three-year overlap with TerraSAR-X.

2010-029A

Soyuz-TMA 19 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome with a Soyuz FG rocket on 15 June 2010 at 21:35 UT. It is a Russian spacecraft used to shuttle crew members and supplies back and forth from the International Space Station. This mission delivered one Russian and two U.S. crew members to the ISS.

2010-028C

BPA 1, a Ukrainian package of experimental avionics, was launched on a Dnepr rocket from the Dombarovsky Missile Base near Yasny, Russia at 14:42 UT on 15 June 2010. BPA 1 remained mounted to the third stage of the Dnepr launch vehicle.

2010-028B

PRISMA, Sweden's Prototype Research Instruments and Space Mission Advancement was launched on a Dnepr rocket from the Dombarovsky Missile Base near Yasny, Russia at 14:42 UT on 15 June 2010. PRISMA consists of two satellites, nicknamed Mango and Tango, which will test technologies and rendezvous and formation flying in space.

2010-028A

Picard, a French solar physics satellite was launched on a Dnepr rocket from the Dombarovsky Missile Base near Yasny, Russia at 14:42 UT on 15 June 2010. Picard is an investigation dedicated to the simultaneous measurement of the absolute total and spectral solar irradiance, the diameter and solar shape, and to studying the Sun's interior through helioseismology. Picard's 11 cm imaging telescope, called SODISM, will obtain ultra-precise measurements of the Sun's diameter, shape and rotation. Two more instruments, named SOVAP and PREMOS, will measure the total solar irradiance and energy fluctuations in ultraviolet, visible and infrared light.

2010-027A

Shijian 12, also known as SJ 12, is a Chinese research satellite that was launched into orbit using a Long March 2D rocket from Jiuquan, China on 15 June 2010 at 01:39 UT. The satellite is intended to conduct various technology and environmental experiments. China has previously launched Shijian satellites to test new technologies and carry out space experiments. Shijian means "practice" in Chinese.

2010-026A

Dragon, a spacecraft flight test article, was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 18:45 UT on 04 June 2010. Dragon remained mounted to the upper stage of the rocket.

2010-025A

Arabsat 5B, also known as Badr 5, was launched on 03 June 2010 from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 22:00 UT. It was lifted into orbit using a Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage. Arabsat 5B is a telecommunications satellite that will provide direct broadcasting, HDTV programming and interactive services to the Middle East. It is a Eurostar E3000-style satellite with a 15-year life and is equipped with 56 Ku-band and four Ka-band transponders. Arabsat 5B is destined to join two older satellites at the orbital slot of 26° E longitude over the equator and will provide full in-orbit back-up capacity for both Badr 4 and Badr 6.

2010-024A

Beidou G3 was launched using a Long March 3 rocket at 15:53 UT from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Xichang, China on 02 June 2010. Beidou is a Chinese navigation system and uses both geostationary satellites and satellites in intermediate orbit. This series is also called Compass-G. This satellite is the fourth spacecraft launched in this constellation. Two previous satellites were placed in geosynchronous orbit and another is operating in an orbit about 22,000 km above the Earth.

2010-023A

SERVIS 2, which stands for Space Environment Reliability Verification Integrated System, was launched at 01:59 UT on 02 June 2010 from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia using a Eurorockot Rockot vehicle. The 740-kg Japanese engineering test spacecraft is intended to conduct experiments related to the demonstration of technology to be used in future missions, particularly research in the use of commercial off-the-shelf equipment. The spacecraft has a design life of one year and operates in a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at an altitude of 1,200 km at an inclination of 100.4°.

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 GPS 2F-1 (2010-022A).

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 IAC the latest additions to the fleet are 2010-007A, 2010-007B and 2010-007C.

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 (2010)

2004-023C(28363)     Delta 2 R/B(2)                    30 June
2010-026A(36595)     Dragon/Falcon 9 R/B               27 June
2010-020C(36575)     Negai                             26 June
2010-029B(36604)     SL-4 R/B                          19 June
2003-019A(27809)     Hayabusa (MUSES C)                13 June  
2007-034C(32007)     Delta 2 R/B(1)                    06 June
2009-074A(36129)     Soyuz-TMA 17                      02 June

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.

In SPX 679 three satellites in the 2010-020 group of satellites had not been identified at the time it went to press. These have since been identified as: Hayato (also known as K-Sat, 2010-020A, 36573), Waseda-SAT2 (2010-020B, 36574), and Negai (2010-020C, 36575).

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/