SPACEWARN Bulletin, SPX-590 A publication of NASA NSSDC/WDC for Satellite Information, and the World Warning Agency for Satellites, for COSPAR/ISES. (All information in this publication was received between 1 December 2002 and 31 December 2002.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM SPACECRAFT INT.ID CAT. # NAME LAUNCH DATE, UT ------------------------------------------------------ 2002-062A (27632) NIMIQ 2 29 December 2002 2002-061A (27630) SHENZHOU 4 29 December 2002 2002-060C (27619) COSMOS 2396 25 December 2002 2002-060B (27618) COSMOS 2395 25 December 2002 2002-060A (27617) COSMOS 2394 25 December 2002 2002-059A (27613) COSMOS 2393 24 December 2002 2002-058H (27612) LATINSAT-A 20 December 2002 2002-058E (27609) TRAILBLAZER 20 December 2002 2002-058D (27608) UNISAT 2 20 December 2002 2002-058C (27607) SAUDISAT 1C 20 December 2002 2002-058B (27606) LATINSAT-B 20 December 2002 2002-058A (27605) RUBIN 2 20 December 2002 2002-057A (27603) NSS 6 17 December 2002 2002-056D (27600) MICRO-LABSAT 14 December 2002 2002-056C (27599) WEOS 14 December 2002 2002-056B (27598) FEDSAT 14 December 2002 2002-056A (27597) ADEOS 2 14 December 2002 2002-055A (27566) TDRS 10 05 December 2002 B. Text of Launch Information 2002-062A NIMIQ 2 is a Canadian geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by a Proton-M rocket (topped by a BRIZ-M booster) from Baikonur at 23:17 UT on 29 December 2002. The 3.6 tonne (with fuel) spacecraft will provide radio, digital and "interactive" television, and internet services to subscribers in all of North America through its 32, 120 W, Ku-band transponders after parking over 91 deg-W longitude. 2002-061A SHENZHOU 4 (meaning Divine Vessel) is a Chinese (PRC) unmanned test satellite that was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China by a Long March 2F rocket at 16:40 UT on 29 December 2002. It carries a retrievable crew module with all furnishings, test equipment, and dummy astronauts to assess its viability for a manned launch. (Very similar to the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, the SHENZHOUs carry two other modules, a service module for storing fuel and equipment, and an orbiter to continue on after the release of the crew module.) The crew module will make a parachuted soft-landing on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia after a seven day mission. The initial orbital parameters were period 89.8 min, apogee 329 km, perigee 196 km, and inclination 42.4 deg. 2002-060A, COSMOS 2394, COSMOS 2395, and COSMOS 2396 are three GLONASS 060B,060C fleet spacecraft that were launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baikonur at 07:38 UT on 25 December 2002. They extend the current, depleted fleet of nine spacecraft to 12, which will grow further to a fleet of 18 spacecraft by 2004, and to 24 by 2005. (The original fleet had 24 spacecraft in the 1980s.) The initial orbital parameters of all three were close: period 676 min, apogee 19,137 km, perigee 19,127 km and inclination 64.8 deg. 2002-059A COSMOS 2393 is a Russian military communications spacecraft that was launched by a Molniya-M rocket from Plesetsk at 12:20 UT on 24 December 2002. The initial orbital parameters were period 704.6 min, apogee 39,187 km, perigee 517 km, and inclination 62.8 deg. 2002-058E TRAILBLAZER is a 100 kg mockup of an American, commercial lunar orbiter that was launched from Baikonur by a Dnepr rocket at 17:00 UT on 20 Dcember 2002, for testing the viability of the craft for orbiting the Moon. (Dnepr is a converted SS-18 ICBM.) If successful, these Lunar orbiters (and landers) will be launched in late 2003 through 2005. The company that sponsored the satellite "believes that there is a commercial demand for sending personal items, and burial ashes to the Moon". Initial orbital parameters were period 97.6 min, apogee 645 km, perigee 639 km, and inclination 64.6 deg. 2002-058D UNISAT 2 is a 12 kg, Italian picosat that was launched from Baikonur by a Dnepr rocket at 17:00 UT on 20 December 2002. It carries a camera, and debris/aerosol detection sensors. Initial orbital parameters were period 97.8 min, apogee 667 km, perigee 636 km, and inclination 64.6 deg. 2002-058C SAUDISAT 1C is a Saudi Arabian picosatellite that was launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 17:00 UT on 20 December 2002. No further information is available. Initial orbital parameters were period 98.0 min, apogee 690 km, perigee 633 km, and inclination 64.6 deg. 2002-058B, LATINSAT-B and LATINSAT-A are two Argentine picosatellites that were 2002-058H launched by a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur at 17:00 UT on 20 December 2002. These 12 kg satellites will monitor both fixed and mobile goods for the transportation industry. Initial orbital parameters of both were period 98.1 min, apogee 702 km, perigee 632 km, and inclination 64.6 deg. 2002-058A RUBIN 2 is a German microsatellite that was launched from Baikonur by a Dnepr rocket at 17:00 UT on 20 December 2002. It is a test satellite that can operate without a dedicated ground station. It can be operated via an internet link from a PC, using the Orbcomm mobile messaging satellite network. Initial orbital parameters were period 97.9 min, apogee 679 km, perigee 635 km, and inclination 64.6 deg. 2002-057A NSS 6 is a Netherlands geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou at 23:04 UT on 20 December 2002. The 4.5 tonne (with fuel) spacecraft carriers 50 Ku-band and 10 Ka-band transponders to provide voice, video and data communications to India, China, Southeast Asia, and Australia after parking over 95 deg-E longitude. 2002-056D MICRO-LABSAT is a Japanese technology experiment microsatellite that was launched by a H-2 rocket from Tanegashima Space Flight Center at 01:31 UT on 14 December 2002. Initial orbital parameters were period 100.8 min, apogee 805 km, perigee 789 km, and inclination 98.7 deg. 2002-056C WEOS (Whale Ecology Observation Satellite) is a Japanese microsatellite that was launched by a H-2 rocket from Tanegashima SFC at 01:31 UT on 14 December 2002. It will monitor whale migrations. Initial orbital parameters were period 100.8 min, apogee 805 km, perigee 791 km, and inclination 98.7 deg. 2002-056B FEDSAT is an Australian (50 kg) microsatellite that was launched by a H-2 rocket from Tanegashima Space Flight Center at 01:31 UT on 14 December 2002. It carries communications, navigation and computing systems, and a sensitive magnetometer (named NewMag). It is also reported to carry a compact disk carrying voice recordings of 300 Australians as a time capsule enduring its estimated 100-year orbital life-span. It experienced some tumbling that requires corrective efforts. Initial orbital parameters were period 100.9 min, apogee 806 km, perigee 793 km, and inclination 98.7 deg. 2002-056A ADEOS 2, also known as MIDORI 2 is a Japanese (NASDA) remote sensing spacecraft that was launched by a H-2 rocket from Tanegashima Space Flight Center at 01:31 UT on 14 December 2002. The 3.7 tonne (with fuel), 5 kW spacecraft has the dimensions of 4 m x 4 m x 5 m, and has a single solar panel of 0.3 m x 24 m. It carries five instruments to monitor the global climate trends. Initial orbital parameters were period 101 min, apogee 807 km, perigee 806 km, and inclination 98.7 deg AMSR (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer) monitors water vapor, precipitation, sea surface temperature, wind, and ice by means of microwave radiation emanating from Earth's surface and atmosphere. It is a radiometer that operates in eight frequency bands covering 6.9 GHz to 89 GHz, and monitors the horizontal and vertical polarizations separately. With a dish of two meter aperture, the spatial resolution is 5 km in the 89 GHz band, degrading to 60 km at 6.9 GHz. GLI (GLobal Imager) is an optical sensor to observe solar radiation reflected from Earth's surface and map vegetation, clouds etc. The data is acquired in 23 visible/near-infrared, and in 13 far infrared channels. The scanning is done by a rotating mirror covering 12 km along track and 1,600 km cross-track, and at a resolution of 1.0 km. SeaWinds is a scatterometer that provides wind speed and direction by observing the microwave reflection from ocean surfaces. With its 1.0 m dish, it scans the surface along conical surfaces at 18 RPM. It provides speed at an accuracy of 2 m/s, wind direction at an accuracy of 20 deg, both with a spatial resolution of 5 km. ILAS-2 (Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer 2) maps the vertical distribution of O3, NO2, HNO3, H2O, CFC-11, CFC-12, CH4, N2O, and ClONO2, as well as the distribution of temperature and pressure, all in the stratosphere. It observes the absorption spectrum in Earth's atmospheric limb in the 3-13 micron wavelength band, and in the 753-784 nm band of the occulting Sun. The altitude resolution is 100 m. POLDER (POLarization and Directionality of Earth's Reflectances) measures the polarization, and spectral characteristics of the solar light reflected by aerosols, clouds, oceans and land surfaces. Eight narrow band wavelengths (443,490, 564, 670, 763, 765, 865, and 910 nm) are covered by the instrument which enables identification of the physical and optical properties of the aerosols and their role in radiation budget. 2002-055A TDRS 10 is an American (NASA), geostationary Tracking and Data Relay Satellite that was launched by an Atlas 2A rocket from Cape Canaveral at 14:42 UT on 5 December 2002, and soon reached its testing location at 150 deg-W longitude. It joins the currently operational fleet of six TDRSs which are used to relay data from many science-payload NASA satellites. The 3.2 tonne (with fuel), 1.7 kW, hexagonal, triaxially-stabilized TDRS 10 spacecraft's enhanced capability includes simultaneous coverage of five spacecraft at multiple frequencies and at a data rate of 800 megabits/s from its Ka-band transponders, 300 Mbps from its Ku-band, and 6 Mbps from its S-band transponders. 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.) THE FULL LIST APPEARED IN SPX 545. (See http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ spacewarn/) 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. 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 URL http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html. It provides many links to GPS-related data bases. 3. Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS constellation. SPACEWARN requests updates or additions from readers to the list. All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general COSMOS series. The COSMOS numbers invoked by USSPACECOM have sometimes differed from the numbers (NNNN) associated in Russia. The operating frequencies in MHz are computed from the channel number K. Frequencies (MHz) are L1 = 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, with the URL http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/, or http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/english.html, maintained by the Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC), Russian Space Forces. The latest addition to the GLONASS fleet are COSMOS 2394, COSMOS 2395, and COSMOS 2396. 4. Visually bright objects. A comprehensive list of visually bright objects with their 2-line orbital elements is available from USSPACECOM, via a NASA URL. Go to Sec C-6 below and, after steps (1) through (6), click on "Special Interest Group Report". Then click on "Visible Interest Satellites", along with "Header and TLE". The list does not provide visual magnitude, but are expected to be brighter than magnitude 5. 5. Actual decays or landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B) only. No further information is available. Designations Common Name Decay Date (UT), 2002 ------------ ----------- ---------- 1984-085A (15182) MOLNIYA 1-61 31 December 1967-104B (03019) R/B 27 December 2002-029F (27448) R/B(Aux. Mot.) 23 December 1984-085D (15188) R/B(2) 20 December 2002-042C (27517) R/B(1) H-2A 11 December 2002-053A (27557) ASTRA 1K 10 December 2002-048B (27541) R/B(1) 08 December 1993-032B (22658) R/B(1) Delta 2 08 December 2002-052A (27556) STS 113 Landed on 07 December 2002-041B (27514) R/B Ariane 44L 04 December 6. 60-day Decay Predictions. The USSPACECOM forecasts and maintains a list of decays of orbiting objects expected in the next 60 days, with fair accuracy. The list may be accessed through a NASA site, http://oig1.gsfc. nasa.gov/scripts/foxweb.exe/app01?, as follows. (1) Click on "OIG Main Page". (2) Click on "Send Message to System administrator", who will provide a login account. (3) After getting an ID and a Password, click on "Registered User Login". (Step (2) is not needed after obtaining an account.) (4) Click on "Continue". (5) Click on "General information". (6) Click on "Reports". (7) Click on "Sixty Day Decay......". The login need is enforced after the 11 September 2001 events. 7. 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.) Dr. Joseph H. King, Director of World Data Center for Satellite Information, and Head of WWAS (and NSSDC) is retiring as of 3 January '03 after over a quarter century of service to NASA. He has been fully involved with the content, credibility, and quality of the SpaceWarn Bulletins for over a decade. WWAS will endeavour to maintain the reputation of the Bulletin in 2003 and beyond. WWAS and, we are sure, many in the SpaceWarn reader community wish Dr. King many pleasant and vigorous "retirement" years. 8. Related NSSDC resources. NSSDC/WDC for Satellite Information is an archival center for science data from many spacecraft. Many datasets are on-line for electronic access, through the URL, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 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 elements of many magnetospheric and heliospheric science- payload spacecraft may be obtained from: ftp://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/miscellaneous/orbits Other files interest for Earth-centered s/c can be generated thru the URL, http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Codes related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed through the URL, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/helios/heli.html Descriptions of many spacecraft, experiments and datasets are available through links from http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/sc-query.html =========================================================================== SPACEWARN Bulletin The bulletin is intended to serve as an international communication medium for the rapid distribution of information on satellites and space probes. The material it contains is based on guidelines in the COSPAR Guide to Rocket and Satellite Information and Data Exchange, COSPAR Transactions #8, December 1972, and various Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) resolutions. All bulletins beginning with January 1991 (SPX-447) are now available on line; the SPX number increases by one for each succeeding month (for example, the January 1993 bulletin is SPX-471). The bulletin may be accessed through the World Wide Web (WWW). The URL is http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/ Users are encouraged to submit their comments and suggestions for the improvement of this bulletin to SPACEWARN Bulletin: WWAS@NDADSB.GSFC.NASA.GOV. Categories of Spacecraft To improve the effectiveness of international distribution of satellite and space probe information via the SPACEWARN system, spacecraft are identified in categories according to the urgency and detail of information needed by the scientific community as follows: CATEGORY 1: Spacecraft that carry essentially continuous telemetry or radio beacons, usually on frequencies less than 150 MHz. CATEGORY 2: GPS constellation of positioning/navigational spacecraft. CATEGORY 3: GLONASS constellation of positioning/navigational spacecraft. CATEGORY 4: Occasionally, a list of bright, orbiting objects of visual magnitude 4 or brighter. The bulletin also carries launch dates, international IDs, and USSPACECOM catalog numbers, followed by a brief outline of the payload and orbital parameters, re-entry of major objects, and miscellaneous sections. These data are based on launch announcements or on information received from individuals, launching authorities, FBIS and USSPACECOM emails, news papers, and some Web sites.