SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 507

SPACEWARN Activities

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.

1996-004A (23773) Cosmos 2327    16 Jan 1996
1996-003A (23768) KOREASAT 2     14 Jan
1996-002B (23765) MEASAT 1       12 Jan
1996-002A (23764) PAS 3R         12 Jan
1996-001B (23763) OAST FLYER     11 Jan
1996-001A (23762) STS 72         11 Jan
1995-074A (23757) XTE            30 Dec 1995
1995-073A (23754) ECHO STAR 1    28 Dec
1995-072B (23752) SKIPPER        28 Dec
1995-072A (23751) IRS 1-C        28 Dec

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

1996-004A

Cosmos 2327 is a Russian military spacecraft that was launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome by a Cosmos-3M rocket at 15:34 UT. Initial orbital parameters were period 104.9 min, apogee 1,034 km, perigee 974 km, and inclination 83 deg.

1996-003A

KOREASAT 2, also known as MUGUNGHWA 2, is a South Korean geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral by a Delta 2 rocket at 11:10 UT. It will be parked at 116-E longitude over Borneo island to provide broadcasting and telecommunications to South Korea, beginning July 96.

1996-002B

MEASAT 1 is a Malaysian geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou in French Guiana at 23:10 UT. After parking at 91.5-E longitude, the 1,450 kg spacecraft will provide communications and direct-to-home television services to Malaysia and neighboring countries through its four Ku-bands and 12 C-band transponders.

1996-002A

PAS 3R, also known as PANAMSAT 3R, is an American geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou in French Guiana at 23:10 UT. After parking at 43.0-W longitude, the 2,900 kg spacecraft will provide TV and communication services to the north- and south American countries through its 16 C-band transponders.

1996-001B

OAST FLYER ( NASA's Office of Aeronautical and Space Technology flier) is an American minispacecraft that was released from the shuttle STS 72. It carried four experimental packages: to measure spacecraft contamination levels at low-Earth orbits, to test GPS equipments, to test amateur radio gears, and finally to determine the effect of solar radiation on the explosives aboard satellite systems. Initial orbital parameters were period 90.6 min, apogee 310 km, perigee 302 km, and inclination 28.4 deg.

1996-001A

STS 72 is an American shuttle spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral at 09:41 UT. It carried, released, and retrieved the OAST FLYER. It also retrieved a long orbiting Japanese reusable spacecraft, SFU that had amassed astronomical data and material science products since March 1995. Initial orbital parameters were period 91.1 min, apogee 470 km, perigee 185 km, and inclination 28.4 deg.

1995-074A

XTE (X-ray Timing Explorer) is an American astronomy spacecraft that was launched by a Delta-2 rocket from Cape Canaveral AFS at 13:48 UT. The 3,000 kg spacecraft carries three major instruments with large collecting areas, wide bandwidths, and high resolution. The PCA (Proportional Counter Array, of NASA/Goddard) consists of five xenon counters of area 7,000 sq-cm, field-of-view 1.0 deg, bandwidth 2-60 keV, resolution 1.0 microsecond, and sensitivity 0.1 milliCrab; the HEXTE (High Energy X-ray Timing Experiment of UC-San Diego) contains eight sodium/cesium iodide crystals of area 1,600 sq-cm, field-of-view 1.0 deg, bandwidth 20-200 keV, resolution 10 microsecond, and sensitivity 1.0 milliCrab; the ASM (All Sky Monitor of MIT) is an array of three xenon proportional counters of area 90 sq-cm, field-of-view 6 deg x 90 deg, bandwidth 2-10 keV, resolution 1.5 hr, and sensitivity 20 milliCrab. One Crab is the intensity of x-ray emission from the Crab nebula. Unlike the telescopes PCA and HEXTE, the ASM scans most of the sky every 1.5 hr in order to monitor about 75 bright sources; the positional resolution of ASM is about 0.05 deg x 0.25 deg. (Problems with the scanning mechanism are now being addressed.) Initial orbital parameters were period 96.1 min, apogee 583 km, perigee 565 km, and inclination 22.9 deg. Status of the experiments and some data may be accessed through the URL:
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/xte_1st.html

1995-073A

ECHOSTAR 1 is an American geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by a Long March 2E rocket from Xichang Center in Sichuan province, PRC at 11:51 UT. The 3,288 kg spacecraft carries 16 Ku-band transponders to enable direct broadcast communications and television channels through 0.5 meter dishes on the ground in the American continents.

1995-072B

SKIPPER is a small American science spacecraft that was launched by a Molniya-M launcher from Baykonur cosmodrome at 06:45 UT. It has been reported to be a "sub-satellite" (of IRS 1-C), but no details are currently available on the Utah State University instrumentation package. Initial orbital parameters were period 101.0 min, apogee 813 km, perigee 803 km, and inclination 98.6 deg.

1995-072A

IRS 1-C (Indian Remote Sensing satellite) is the third of the Indian natural resource imaging satellites and was launched by a Molniya-M launcher from Baykonur cosmodrome at 06:45 UT. The 1,250 kg spacecraft carries three instruments: PAN (PANchromatic camera of 6-meter resolution), multispectral LISS-3 (Linear Imaging Self-Scanner), and WIFS (WIde Field Sensor). Images from regions other than India will be downlinked and distributed through a commercial entity in USA. Initial parameters of the Sun-synchronous orbit were period 101.2 min, apogee 818 km, perigee 816 km, and inclination 98.6 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 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                     1996
   
   1995-004B (23652)  R/B Ariane 44P                  13 Jan 1996
   1995-073B (23755)  R/B Long March                  06 Jan
   1995-070B (23745)  R/B SL-4                        21 Dec 1995
   1994-088A (23453)  COSMOS 2305                     16 Dec
   1995-068D (23737)  R/B SL-12                       15 Dec
   

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.)

   Cosmos 2326 was reported in SPACEWARN Bulletin 506 as a Russian military spacecraft; however, it carries a scientific instrumenet also to monitor Galactic gamma rays.

   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

   Erratum: In SPACEWARN Bulletin 472 the inclination of the spacecraft OXP-1 (1993-009A) was reported as 99.7 deg. The correct inclination is 24.9 deg, either at launch or soon after.

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: 26 January 1996
Last Updated: 31 January 1996, EVB II