SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 486

SPACEWARN Activities

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.

1994-023A (23087) Cosmos 2278   Apr 23
    -022A (23051) GOES 8        Apr 13
    -021C (23045) Cosmos 2277   Apr 11
    -021B (23044) Cosmos 2276   Apr 11
    -021A (23043) Cosmos 2275   Apr 11
    -020A (23042) STS 59        Apr 09

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

1994-023A

Cosmos 2278, a Russian spacecraft, was launched by a Zenit-2 rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 08:02 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 102 min, apogee 880.8 km, perigee 852.0 km, and inclination 71.0 deg.

1994-022A

GOES 8, a U.S.A. meteorological geostationary spacecraft, was launched by an Atlas 1 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 20:04 UT. On board were instruments for high resolution visible and UV imagers, and "sounders" for temperature and moisture profiles. Also on board were energetic particle detectors and a magnetometer.

1994-021C, -021B, -021A

Cosmos 2277, 2276, and 2275, the triplet of Russian spacecraft, were launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 08:49 UT. They are part of the GLONASS fleet of global positioning satellites, similar to the NAVSTAR-GPS fleet of USA spacecraft. With these three, GLONASS has 15 operational members. Initial orbital parameters of all three were period 676.6 min, apogee 19,197 km, perigee 19,120 km, and inclination 64.8 deg.

1994-020A

STS 59, a USA shuttle spacecraft, was launched from Cape Canveral. It carried synthetic aperture radars at three wavelengths: 23 cm (C-band), 6 cm (C-band), and 3 cm (X-band). For each wavelength, there was an array of six, electronically steerable antenna panels; the polarization plane of the emitted radiation could be varied as needed. It was expected to cover 48 million square kilometers of terrain and vegetation, yielding 32 trillion bits of data for capturing in 183 high-density tapes on board. Initial orbital parameters were period 88.7 min, apogee 218 km, perigee 204 km, and inclination 56.9 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               2-23       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
   
   

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

   Designations         Common Name                      1994
   
   1994-020A (23042)  STS 59             Landed on     20 Apr
   1994-013B (23017)  R/B GALAXY-1R                    18 Apr
   1993-066B (22906)  R/B INTELSAT 7                   17 Apr
   1994-022B (23052)  R/B GOES 8                       13 Apr
   1994-021D (22046)  R/B COSMOS 2275/76/77            11 Apr
   1989-053B (20123)  R/B OLYMPUS                      29 Mar
   1994-005A (22975)  PROGRESS M-21                    23 Mar
   
   

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.)

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: 23 May 1995, EVB II