SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 521


A publication of NASA's National Space Science Data Center/World Data Center-A for Rockets and Satellites as the WWAS for ISES/COSPAR

25 March 1997

SPACEWARN Activities

All information in this publication was received between 25 February 1997 and 24 March 1997.

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.

USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.
1997-011A (24748) TEMPO 2    08 Mar  1997-009A (24742) INTELSAT 801 01 Mar
1997-010A (24744) Zeya       04 Mar  

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

1997-011A
TEMPO 2 is an American geosysnchronous spacecraft that was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station by an Atlas 2A rocket to provide direct-to-home television service after parking at 119-W longitude. It carries 16 transponders in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band.

1997-010A
Zeya is the first Russian spacecraft that was successfully launched by a Start-1 rocket (which is a converted SS-25 ICBM) from Svobodnyi cosmodrome at 02:00 UT; it was also the first launch from that newly built cosmodrome in Yakutia Republic in the Amur region. It is a military cartography spacecraft with a mass of 87 kg. Initial orbital parameters were period 94 min, apogee 479 km, perigee 466 km, and inclination 97.2 deg.

1997-009A
INTELSAT 801 is a geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou in French Guiana to provide voice and video communications to the member countries in that consortium after parking at 174-E longitude. It carries six transponders in the Ku-band.

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.

    The last full list appeared as a part of SPX 520. The list will reappear only after major updates to the list are available.

  2. Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational purposes and geodetic studies. ("NNN" denotes no national name. SPACEWARN would appreciate suggestions to update this list. An asterisk [*] denotes changes in this issue.)

    High precision (<20 cm) GPS constellation tracking data obtained from the network of about 80 dedicated global stations that are of interest to geodetic study may be obtained through the following services provided by the International Association of Geodesy (IGS)

         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 SPX-518. It will not be repeated since an excellent source of trajectory- and science-related GPS information is at http://www.utexas.edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps.html#DODSystem It provides many links to GPS related databases.

  3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation. (SPACEWARN requests updates/additions from readers to this list. Entries marked "*" are updates or additions to the list.)

    All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general COSMOS series. The COSMOS numbers (nnnn) 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 appeared in SPX-515. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at: http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/glonass.html maintained by the Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC),Russian Space Forces.

  4. Actual decays/landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. Additional information is not available.
    Designations       Common Name                         1997
    
    1996-054B (24316)  R/B COSMOS 2334                   17 Mar
    1995-052B (23677)  R/B COSMOS 2321                   13 Mar
    1996-066A (24663)  PROGRESS M-33                     12 Mar
    1996-047A (24280)  SOYUZ TM-24                       02 Mar
    

  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.)

    Pioneer 10 operations were discontinued as of 31 March 1997.

    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). 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 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

    Magnetospheric, Planetary, and Astronomical science data from many spacecraft may be accessed through links from the URL:
    http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/


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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

Page Curator:
Dr. Edwin V. Bell, II, ed.bell@gsfc.nasa.gov, +1-301-286-1187
NSSDC, Mail Code 633, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

NASA Official: J. H. King, joe.king@gsfc.nasa.gov
V1.0: 31 March 1997
Last Updated: 07 April 1997, EVB II