SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 506

SPACEWARN Activities

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.

1995-071A (23748) Cosmos 2326    20 Dec
1995-070A (23744) Progress M-30  18 Dec
1995-069A (23741) GALAXY 3R      15 Dec
1995-068C (23736) Cosmos 2325    14 Dec
1995-068B (23735) Cosmos 2324    14 Dec
1995-068A (23734) Cosmos 2323    14 Dec
1995-067B (23731) INSAT 2C       06 Dec
1995-067A (23730) TELCOM 2C      06 Dec
1995-066A (23728) USA 116        05 Dec
1995-065A (23726) SOHO           02 Dec
1995-064A (23723) ASIASAT 2      28 Nov

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

1995-071A

Cosmos 2326 is a Russian military spacecraft that was launched from Baykonur cosmodrome by a Tsiklon-2 rocket at 00:52 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 92.7 min, apogee 435 km, perigee 415 km, and inclination 65 deg.

1995-070A

Progress M-30 is a Russian automatic cargo ship for transporting provisions and equipment to/from the Mir space station. It was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 14:42 UT and docked with Mir at 16:30 UT on 20 December to deliver 2,000 kg of material. Initial orbital parameters were period 88.5 min, apogee 236 km, perigee 190 km, and inclination 51.6 deg.

1995-069A

GALAXY 3R is an American geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station at 00:23 UT. After parking at 95 deg W longitude it will provide 140 television channels to Mexico, Carribean, and central American countries through its 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders.

1995-068C, 1995-068B, 1995-068A

Cosmos 2325, Cosmos 2324, and Cosmos 2323 are part of the Russian constellation of GLONASS spacecraft (see section C-3 below) and complete the list of 24 planned spacecraft. They were launched by a Proton-K booster from Baykonur at 06:10 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 11 hr 15 min, apogee 19,146 km, perigee 19,101 km, and inclination 64.8 deg.

1995-067B

INSAT 2C is an Indian geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guiana at 23:23 UT. The 2,050 kg, 1,620 W spacecraft will be co-located at 93.5 deg E longitude alongside INSAT 2B, providing television coverage to all countries from central Europe to southeast Asia through its 24 transponders.

1995-067A

TELCOM 2C is a French geostationary military communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guiana at 23:23 UT. It will operate what is called the Syracuse II system on the 7-8 GHz band, after parking at 3 deg, E longitude.

1995-066A

USA 116 is an American military reconnaissance spacecraft that was launched from Vandenberg AFB by a Titan 4 rocket at 21:18 UT. The Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported that the 26,000 kg spacecraft is a member of the Keyhole constellation that provides images at 15 m resolution; the agency also reported that the initial orbital parameters were period 95.7 min, apogee 976 km, perigee 156 km, and inclination 97.8 km and that it will be maneuvered to the planned altitudes.

1995-065A

SOHO is an ESA-NASA spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station by an Atlas 2AS rocket. It carries three American and nine European instruments to observe the Sun and its corona. It was maneuvered to orbit around the first Lagrangian point (L-1) at 1,500,000 km in the sunward direction. The triaxially stabilized 1,850 kg spacecraft has a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 3.7 m and height 3.8 m and is associated with the international program, ISTP. It carries 12 instruments to provide solar images and spectra in the UV band, intensity and polarization of light scattered by the coronal electrons, and the composition of cold and hot plasma ejected by the Sun.

1995-064A

ASIASAT 2 is a Hong Kong geostationary spacecraft that was launched at 11:30 UT by a Long March 2E rocket from Xichang launch center in Sichun province, PRC. After parking at 100.5 deg E longitude, it will provide TV communications to 53 countries between eastern Europe and Japan through its 24 C-band and nine Ku-band transponders.

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 about 60 deg apart. Each plane has four "slots." Following are the 2-NN members in the planes/slots. The RAAN decreases by about 1.0 deg each month; below are their approximate RAAN longitudes in November 95.

   PLANE    RAAN OF PLANE     SLOT-1     SLOT-2      SLOT-3      SLOT-4
   
     A           235           2-21       2-12        2-15        2-04
     B           296           2-18       2-07        2-02        2-22
     C           357           2-24       2-13        2-19        2-20
     D            62           2-11       2-09        2-05        2-23
     E           119           2-01       2-08        2-03        2-10
     F           177           2-16       2-14        2-06        2-17
   

3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation. To see a list select here.

   The GLONASS NNN series orbit in three distinct planes that are 120 deg apart. Each plane has eight "slots". Following are the members of the planes/slots.

      Plane 1              Plane 2              Plane 3
   slot-1   771         slot-9    776/778    slot-17   760
   slot-2   757         slot-10   781        slot-18   758
   slot-3   763         slot-11   785        slot-19   777
   slot-4   762         slot-12   767        slot-20   765
   slot-5   249         slot-13   782        slot-21   756
   slot-6   764         slot-14   770        slot-22   766
   slot-7   759         slot-15   780        slot-23   761
   slot-8   769         slot-16   775        slot-24   774
   

   Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC) Russian Space Forces
   E-mail: sfcsic@iki3.bitnet; sfcsic@iki3.iki.rssi.ru; sfcsic@mx.iki.rssi.ru
   Home page WWW.IKI: http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/SFCSIC_main.html

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

   Designations         Common Name                    1995
   
   1995-053A (23678)  PROGESS M-29                    19 Dec
   1971-016A ( ??  )  COSMOS 398                      10 Dec
   1995-064B (23724)  R/B Long March                  05 Dec
   1995-063B (23718)  R/B SL-12                       21 Nov
   1995-061A (23714)  STS 74                          20 Nov
   1980-092A (12066)  MOLNIYA 1-48                    18 Nov
   1995-025B (23582)  R/B Centaur                     13 Nov
   1995-023B (23572)  R/B Ariane 44-LP                13 Nov
   1995-056A (23688)  STS 73     Landed on            05 Nov
   

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

   NSSDC/WDC-A-R&S is an archival center for science data from many spacecraft. Some data are on line for electronic access. Please contact the NSSDC Request Coordination Office, Code 633, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information (REQUEST@NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV). Precomputed trajectory files and orbital parameters of many magnetospheric and heliospheric science-payload spacecraft may be FTP'ed from NSSDC's ANON_DIR:[000000.ACTIVE] and its several subdirectories. (See About the SPACEWARN Bulletin for access method; a file in the ACTIVE directory named AAREADME.DOC, outlines the contents.) It can also be accessed via the WWW at:
   http://sscop1.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc.html

   This URL also enables executing several codes related to the orbits of many geocentric science payload spacecraft. The codes related to the heliospheric spacecraft trjectories can be executed through:
   http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/helios/heli.html

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
V1.0: 28 December 1995
Last Updated: 05 January 1996, EVB II