SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 479

SPACEWARN Activities

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.

1993-060A (22808) Cosmos 2264   Sep 17  1993-056A (22787) USA 95       Sep 03
     059A (22802) Cosmos 2263   Sep 16       055B (22783) TEMISAT      Aug 31
     058C (22798) ORFEUS-SPAS   Sep 12       055A (22782) METEOR 2-21  Aug 31
     058B (22796) ACTS          Sep 12       054A (22779) USA 94       Aug 30
     058A (22795) STS 51        Sep 12       053A (22777) RESURS F-19  Aug 24
     057A (22789) Cosmos 2262   Sep 07

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

1993-060A

Cosmos 2264, a C.I.S. military spacecraft, was launched by a Cyclone-M rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 00:43 UT. Initial orbital parameters are period 92.9 min, apogee 437 km, perigee 429 km, and inclination 65 deg.

1993-059A

Cosmos 2263, a C.I.S. spacecraft, was launched by a Zenit rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 07:36 UT. Initial orbital parameters are period 102 min, apogee 880 km, perigee 852 km, and inclination 70.6 deg.

1993-058C

ORFEUS-SPAS, a U.S.A. spacecraft, was released from STS 51. Initial orbital parameters are period 90.1 min, apogee 304 km, perigee 270 km, and inclination 28.4 deg. It was later retrieved by STS 51.

1993-058B

ACTS, a U.S.A. geostationary communications spacecraft, was launched from STS 51. Initial orbital parameters are period 719 min, apogee 39,957 km, perigee 323 km, and inclination 15.3 deg.

1993-058A

STS 51, a U.S.A. shuttle, was launched from Cape Canaveral at 13:04 UT. It carried experimental resources for studying the effect of atomic oxygen bombardment on structural materials, for protein crystal growth, and for polymer membrane processing. It launched ACTS spacecraft and released and recaptured ORFEUS-SPAS.

1993-057A

Cosmos 2262, a C.I.S. spacecraft, was launched by a Soyuz rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome. Initial orbital parameters are period 89.2 min, apogee 316 km, perigee 180 km, and inclination 64.9 deg.

1993-056A

USA 95 was launched by an Atlas-1 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force station. It replaces a Navy UHF satellite that was launched into a useless orbit. USA 95 is the second of a constellation of ten planned Navy communications spacecraft. Initial orbital parameters are period 485 min, apogee 26,970 km, perigee 285 km, and inclination 27.1 deg.

1993-055B

TEMISAT, an Italian micro-satellite, was released from METEOR 2-21 at 16:22 UT. It carried relaying instruments to uplink and downlink weather data from the Mediterranean and adjacent areas obtained by about 50 ground stations. Initial orbital parameters are period 104.1 min, apogee 980 km, perigee 945 km, and inclination 82.5 deg.

1993-055A

METEOR 2-21, a C.I.S. meteorological spacecraft, was launched by a Cyclone rocket from Plesetsk cosmodrome at 05:40 UT. Initial orbital parameters are period 104 min, apogee 980 km, perigee 945 km, and inclination 82.5 deg.

1993-054A

USA 94, a U.S.A. spacecraft in the GPS series, was launched by a Delta-2 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force station at 12:38 UT. It joins 21 others in the constellation. Initial orbital parameters are period 11 hr, 56 min; apogee 20,221 km; perigee 20,074 km; and inclination 54.9 deg.

1993-053A

RESURS F-19, a C.I.S. natural resources spacecraft, was launched by a Soyuz rocket from Plesetsk cosmodrome. Initial orbital parameters are period 88.7 min, apogee 267 km, perigee 188 km, and inclination 82.6 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 60 deg apart. Each plane has four "slots." Following are the members of the planes/slots:

   PLANE      RAAN OF PLANE         SLOT-1     SLOT-2      SLOT-3      SLOT-4
   
     A           269                 2-21       2-12        2-15        2-04
     B           329                 2-18       2-07        2-02        2-22
     C            29                (0009)      2-13        2-19        2-20
     D            89                 2-11       2-09        2-05        ----
     E           149                 2-01       2-08        2-03        2-10
     F           209                 2-16       2-14        2-06        2-17
   
   

   0009 will soon be replaced by GPS 2-23 (NAVSTAR 34; PRN 4), to be launched in October 1993.

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

   Designations          Common Name                     1993
   
   1993-058C (22798)    ORFEUS-SPAS Retrieved by STS 51  22 Sep
   1993-058A (22795)    STS 51                Landed on  22 Sep
   1993-060B (22809)    R/B COSMOS 2264                  17 Sep
   1993-057B (22790)    R/B COSMOS 2262                  11 Sep
   1993-053A (22777)    RESURS F-19                      10 Sep
   1993-042B (22701)    R/B USA 92                       30 Aug
   1993-049B (22730)    R/B MOLNIYA 3-45                 30 Aug
   1977-057A (10113)    METEOR 1-28                      28 Aug
   1990-079C (20778)    R/B SKYNET/EUTELSAT              28 Aug
   1993-053B (22778)    R/B RESURS F-19                  27 Aug
   
   

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

   RADCAL (1993-041A/22698), reported in SPX-477, is now identified as a U.S.A. spacecraft launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It is intended to help calibrate radar target cross section data.

   There has been much confusion in the names and IDs of three U.S.A. spacecraft. Through a call to USSPACECOM on 28 September, SPACEWARN has now identified the finally corrected version as follows:

   
      NAME                 ID            CATALOG NUMBER          LAUNCH DATE
   
     USA 93            1993-046A             22719              19 July 1993
     USA 94            1993-054A             22779            30 August 1993
     USA 95            1993-056A             22787         03 September 1993
   

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
Last updated: 24 May 1995, EVB II