SPACEWARN Bulletin Number 560

01 July 2000
A publication of NASA's National Space Science Data Center/World Data Center for Satellite Information as the WWAS for ISES/COSPAR

SPACEWARN Activities

All information in this publication was received between 1 June 2000 and 30 June 2000.

A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UTC).

USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses. 
     2000-035A (26390) Sirius 1              30 Jun
     2000-034A (26388) TDRS 8                30 Jun
     2000-033C (26386) SNAP 1                28 Jun
     2000-033B (26385) Tzinghua 1            28 Jun
     2000-033A (26384) Nadezhda              28 Jun
     2000-032A (26382) Fengyun 2             25 Jun
     2000-031A (26378) Express A3            24 Jun
     2000-030A (26374) TSX 5                 07 Jun
     2000-029A (26372) Gorizont 33           06 Jun

B. Text of Launch Announcements.

2000-035A Sirius 1 is an American geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baikonur at 22:09 UT. It is to provide 100 S-band channels of commercial-free, digital, CD-quality music, news, and entertainment (including "Car Talk") mainly to motorists in the continental USA. Most broadcasts will originate from New York, and the satellite-relayed signals will be rebroadcast by a network of 105 transmitters in dense urban areas. Listening requires a special, factory-installed receiver and, of course, a monthly subscription fee. Two more Sirius satellites are to be launched in September and October 2000. Sirius 1 will probably be parked near 100 deg-W longitude.
2000-034A TDRS 8 is an American Tracking and Data Relay Satellite in geosynchronous orbit and was launched by an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape Canaveral at about 13:00 UT. This brings to seven the number of operational spacecraft in this fleet. (TDRS B had perished on the Challenger shuttle in 1986.) The 2,910 kg (dry), 2.04 kW spacecraft carries two steerable, 5-m diameter dishes to enable many channels in C-, Ku-, and Ka-bands, with rates of 300 Mbits/s in the Ku-band, and 800 Mbits/s in the Ka-band. In addition, a phased array antenna in C-band can receive signals from five different spacecraft simultaneously, while transmitting to one of them.
2000-033C SNAP 1 is a British, student-built, 8 kg nanosatellite that was launched by a Cosmos-3M rocket from Plesetsk at 12:13 UT. It is to demonstrate the successful assembly of a satellite with commercially available miniature electro-mechanical parts. Initial orbital parameters were period 98.7 min, apogee 703 km, perigee 677 km, and inclination 98.12 deg
2000-033B Tzinghua 1 is a Chinese (PRC) 50 kg microsatellite that was launched by a Cosmos-3M rocket from Plesetsk at 12:13 UT. It is a demonstration model of a future seven-satellite fleet that will monitor natural disasters and help train students. Initial orbital parameters were period 98.7 min, apogee 703 km, perigee 677 km, and inclination 98.12 deg
2000-033A Nadezhda (meaning Hope) is a Russian search and relay spacecraft intended to locate ships or aircraft in distress. It is a member of the international COSPAS/SARSAT fleet of such satellites. Since the previous one was Nadezhda 5 (1998-072A/25567), this latest should be designated as Nadezhda 6. It was launched by a Cosmos-3M rocket from Plesetsk at 12:13 UT. The operating frequencies are the internationally dedicated 150.00 and 400.00 MHz. Initial orbital periods were period 98.7 min, apogee 703 km, perigee 677 km, and inclination 98.12 deg.
2000-032A Fengyun 2 is a Chinese (PRC) geosynchronous meteorological spacecraft that was launched by a Long March 3 rocket from Xichang launch center in Sichuan province at 11:50 UT. (There was another Fengyun 2 launched in 1997, and two Fengyun 1 launched in 1988 and 1990.) It is equipped with a scanning radiometer, a cloud mapper, and a water vapor scanner to provide timely weather data, after parking over 105 deg-E longitude.
2000-031A Express A3 is a Russian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baikonur at 00:28 UT. The 2,600 kg spacecraft will provide relaying service for television and radio programs, and telephone service in digital format throughout Russia after parking, probably, over 120 deg-E longitude.
2000-030A TSX 5 (Tri-Service eXperiments 5)is an American military spacecraft that was launched at 14:20 UT by a Pegasus rocket released from a L-1011 cargo plane flying out of Vandenberg AFB. It carries a compact environmental anomaly sensor (CEASE) to probe the near-spacecraft environment. Also on board are the STRV-2 and MWIR instruments: the former to experiment with laser communications between spacecraft and the latter to provide infrared images of flying aircraft. More details may be available by surfing http://www.te.plk.af.mil/tsx5home/tsx5.htm. Initial orbital parameters were period 106 min, apogee 1,704 km, perigee 404 km, and inclination 69 deg.
2000-029A Gorizont 33 is a Russian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-K rocket at 02:59 UT from Baikonur. It is a dual-use spacecraft: to provide improved television coverage in eastern parts of Russian, and to further military communications.

C. Spacecraft Particularly Suited for International Participation

  1. Spacecraft with essentially continuous radio beacons on frequencies less than 150 MHz, or higher frequencies if especially suited for ionospheric or geodetic studies. (NNSS denotes U.S. Navy Navigational Satellite System. Updates or corrections to the list are possible only with information from the user community.)

    Note: The full list appeared in SPX 545. The list will not be repeated in future issues until significantly revised again.

  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-545. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at: http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/english.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. No further information is available. 
    Designations         Common Name              Decay Date (2000)

1989-094B (20339) R/B Molniya 8K78M                   27 Jun
2000-031B (26379) R/B Proton-K                        26 Jun
1979-012A (11268) COSMOS 1077                         26 Jun
2000-026C (26367) R/B Rokot                           21 Jun
1986-068A (16934) MOLNIYA 1-68                        20 Jun
2000-018A (26116) SOYUZ-TM 30                         16 Jun
1979-099A (11629) COSMOS 1145                         16 Jun
1978-045A (10860) COSMOS 1005                         15 jun
1996-027B (23858) R/B Atlas 1/Centaur                 09 Jun
1996-007B (23782) R/B Ariane 44P                      07 Jun
1991-027B (21225) GRO (Controlled deorbit/re-enter)   04 Jun
1998-012C (25235) R/B Pegasus                         25 May
1990-015A (20496) LACE (USA 51)                       24 May

  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.)

  6. Related NSSDC resources.

    NSSDC/WDC for Satellite Information is an archival center for science data from many spacecraft. Many space physics datasets are on-line for electronic access through:
    http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/

    For off-line data, please contact the Request Office, NSSDC, 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 accessed via anonymous FTP from NSSDC. (See About the SPACEWARN Bulletin for access method; a file in the active directory named AAREADME.TXT, outlines the contents.)

    Other files interest for Earth-centered spacecraft can be generated through the URL,
    http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/

    Programs related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed through the URL,
    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, 05 July 2000
Last updated: 01 September 2000, EVB II