SPACEWARN Activities

2007-015A

AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in Mesosphere) is an American (NASA) satellite designed to study noctilucent clouds (NLC) in the polar mesosphere. They are known as mainly ice crystal strata at about 85 km   L-1011 aircraft flying out of Vandenberg AFB at 21:26 UT on 25 April 2007. AIM is a triaxially stabilized 197 kg, 216 W craft, that can store data gathered for 50 hours, at 1.3 Gbits/day. The Project Scientist is Hans Mayr at GSFC/NASA. The Principal Investigator is James Russell of Hampton University in Virginia. AIM carries three instruments:

SOFIE (Solar Occultation For Ice Experiment) will remote-sense the gasses that condense to NLCs. The instrument will look at the Sun as it passes through the limb of the Earth's atmosphere to measure the absorption of spectral lines of water vapor, ozone, nitric acid, and methane and derive their density profiles. It will also measure the temperature of the stratum. It was built at the Space Dynamics Laboratory of the Utah State University.

CDE (Cosmic Dust Experiment) is an in situ sampler of the (mostly) charged cosmic dust flux over the NLCs. It uses a permanent electrically polarized foil sensor which counts each impacting dust particle and its charge. It was built at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder.

CIPS (Cloud Imaging and Particle Size experiment) is a panoramic UV imager of the NLCs operating in the 265 nm wavelength band, with a field-of-view of 80° x 120°. It will provide the morphology of the clouds in both hemisphere.

The initial orbital parameters of AIM were period 96.5 min, apogee 600 km, perigee 586 km, and inclination 97.8°.

2007-014A

NFIRE (Near Field InfraRed Experiment) is an American military (Missile Defense Agency) satellite that is designed to carry a kill vehicle (KV) to aim at any rocket that is launched directly against it. It was launched by a Minataur 1 rocket from Wallops Island in Virginia at 06:48 UT on 24 April 2007. Its instruments can distinguish the fiery exhaust plume at the launch phase from the rocket body. The MDA will launch two ballistic missiles toward NFIRE from Vandenberg AFB to test the NFIRE/KV performances. Two more NFIREs are under construction. The initial orbital parameters were period 91.7 min, apogee 464 km, perigee 255 km, and inclination 48.2°.

2007-013B

AVM (Advanced Avionics Module) is an Indian test satellite intended to monitor the performance of the fourth stage of the PSLV-C8 rocket that was launched from Sriharikota at 10:00 UT on 23 April 2007. The 185 kg craft remained attached to the fourth stage. The initial orbital parameters were period 95.5 min, apogee 551 km, perigee 531 km, and inclination 2.5°.

2007-013A

AGILE is an Italian satellite that was launched by a PSLV-C8 rocket from Sriharikota in southern India at 10:00 UT on 23 April 2007. The 325 kg satellite carries X-ray and gamma ray spectrometers to study astronomical objects in the Galaxy. The initial orbital parameters were period 95.4 min, apogee 553 km, perigee 524 km, and inclination 2.5°.

2007-012T, 2007-012S, 2007-012R, 2007-012Q

Object-T, Object-S, Object-R, and Object-Q, are four picosatellites that were launched by a Dnepr rocket (a modified SS-18, Satan ICBM) from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. The initial orbital parameters of all were similar: period 99.0 min, apogee 770 km, perigee 649 km, and inclination 98.1°.

Each is a "CubeSat" of mass 1.0 kg, and dimension 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm, and is a technology demonstrator. Their names remain unmatched with the IDs, but are from among the following four.

CP 4 (CalPoly 4) is an American Picosatellite that was designed by college students (at California Polytech). It carries a three-axis attitude determination and control system, and a substantial data processing and storage system.

AEROCUBE 2 was designed and built by the American Aerospace Corporation in California.

CSTB 1 (CubeSat TestBed 1) was built by the American Boeing company. It will enable attitude control by means of sensing the magnetic field.

MAST 3 may be one of the three CubeSats in MAST that was released from the chain after the launch of MAST. (See below.)

2007-012P

CAPE 1 is a CubeSat of sides 10 cm, and mass 1.0 kg and was built by students at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette (ULL). It was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. It will collect and store data on the ambient ionosphere and relay it over the ULL. The initial orbital parameters were period 99.2 min, apogee 793 km, perigee 646 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-012N

Libertad 1 is a Colombian CubeSat of mass 1.0 kg that was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. It was built by the students at Sergio Arboleda University. The initial orbital parameters were period 99.2 min, apogee 792 km, perigee 646 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-012M

CP 3 (CalPoly 3) is an American student-built CubeSat picosatellite of mass 1.0 kg that was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. The initial orbital parameters were period 99.2 min, apogee 793 km, perigee 646 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-012L, 2007-012J, 2007-012H, 2007-012E, 2007-012C

Saudicomsat 4, Saudicomsat 3, Saudicomsat 5, Saudicomsat 6, and Saudicomsat 7 are five Saudi Arabian communications nanosatellites that were launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. Each is a 12 kg CubeSat that was built by the students and faculty of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) for storing and then forwarding communications. The are the first five among a planned fleet of 24 such nanosatellites. The initial orbital parameters all five were similar: period 98.7 min, apogee 730 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-012K

MAST (Multiple Application Survivable Tether experiment) is a triplet of 1.0 kg American Cubesats, one below the other. It was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. Built by Stanford University students, it is intended to study damage to the multiple-wire tether due to meteoric impacts and UV-engendered degradation. Once in orbit, two of the three were to separate as free flyers. The initial orbital parameters were period 99.1 min, apogee 782 km, perigee 647 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-012F

Object-F is an American 1.0 kg CubeSat picosatellite that was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur by a Dnepr rocket at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. It is likely to have separated from MAST, the triplet CubeSat. The initial orbital parameters were period 99.0 min, apogee 771 km, perigee 648 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-012B

SaudiSat 3 is a Saudi Arabian minisatellite that was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. The 200 kg minisatellite carries a high resolution imager, built in collaboration with KACST's faculty and students. The initial orbital parameters were period 98.1 min, apogee 679 km, perigee 656 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-012A

EgyptSat 1 is an Egyptian minisatellite that was launched by Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 07:02 UT on 17 April 2007. The 100 kg minisatellite carries a multispectral imager for Earth observations, stores the data on-board and forwards them over Egypt. The initial orbital parameters were period 98.0 min, apogee 666 km, perigee 658 km, and inclination 98.1°.

2007-011A

Beidou M1 is a Chinese (PRC) navigational craft belonging to the COMPASS constellation of position-providing satellites that was launched by a Long March 3A rocket from Xichang launch center at 20:11 UT on 13 April 2007. When the constellation is completed, it will have five geostationary and 30 low-earth orbiters, enabling location with an accuracy of 10 m, and velocity with an accuracy of 0.2 m/s. The initial orbital parameters were period 773.4 min, apogee 21,545 km, perigee 21,519 km, and inclination 55.3°.

2007-010A

Haiyang 1B is a Chinese (PRC) ocean-imaging surveillance satellite that was launched by a Long March 2C rocket from Taiyuan launch center in Shanxi province at 03:27 UT on 11 April 2007. Five more such launches are planned for launch before 2009. The initial orbital parameters were period 100.84 min, apogee 815 km, perigee 782 km, and inclination 98.6°.

2007-009A

Anik F3 is a Canadian geostationary communications craft that was launched by a Proton-M rocket from Baikonur at 22:54 UT on 09 April 2007. The 4.6 tonne, 10 kW craft carries 32 Ku-band, 24 C-band and two Ka-band transponders to provide voice and video transmissions throughout North America after parking over 119° W longitude.

2007-008A

Soyuz-TMA 10 is a Russian passenger craft that was launched by a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur at 17:31 UT on 07 April 2007. It carried two astronauts and a tourist to the International Space Station (ISS). It docked with the Zarya module of the ISS at 19:10 UT on 09 April. The tourist and two other long-resident ISS astronauts returned to Earth on 21 April in the previously docked TMA 9. The two astronauts on TMA 10 will remain in ISS for several months. The initial orbital parameters were period 91.3 min, apogee 345 km, perigee 330 km, and inclination 51.6°.

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 SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 545. The list will not be repeated in future issues until significantly revised.

Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational purposes and geodetic studies.

High precision (<20 cm) GPS constellation tracking data obtained from the network of about 400 dedicated global stations that are of interest to geodetic study may be obtained through the following services provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS). The IGS is a service of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG).

     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 SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 518. It will not be repeated since an excellent source of trajectory- and science-related GPS information is at:

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html

It provides many links to GPS related databases.

The latest addition to the fleet is Navstar 59, 2006-052A.

Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation.

SPACEWARN requests updates/additions from readers to this list.

All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general Cosmos series. The Cosmos numbers 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 last appeared in SPACEWARN Bulletin No. 545. It will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at: http://www.glonass-ianc.rsa.ru/ maintained by the Information-Analytical Center (IAC), Russian Space Agency.

According to CSIC the latest additions to the fleet are 2006-062A, 2006-062B, and 2006-062C.

Visually bright objects.

See http://www.space-track.org/perl/bulk_files.pl. Users must register. Conditions apply.

Actual decays/landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. No further information is available.

Designations         Common Name                  Decay Date (2007)

2006-040A (29400)    SOYUZ-TMA 9                      21 April
2007-008B (31101)    R/B Soyuz                        11 April

60-day Decay Predictions.

See http://www.space-track.org/perl/60day_decay_predict.pl. Users must register for access. Conditions apply

Miscellaneous Items.

This section contains information or data that are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the SPACEWARN Bulletin.

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 690.1, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information (nssdc-request@listserv.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 obtained from:
http://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/miscellaneous/orbits/

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

Programs related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed through the URL:
http://cohoweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/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/nmc/