SPACEWARN Bulletin, SPX-619 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 May 2005 and 31 May 2005.) A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UT). (USSTRATCOM, formerly USSPACECOM, Catalog numbers are in parentheses.) COSPAR/WWAS USSTRATCOM SPACECRAFT INT.ID CAT. # NAME LAUNCH DATE, UT ------------------------------------------------------------- 2005-020A 28686 FOTON M-2 31 May 2005 2005-019A 28659 DIRECTV 8 22 May 2005 2005-018A 28654 NOAA 18 20 May 2005 2005-017B 28650 HAMSAT 05 May 2005 2005-017A 28649 CARTOSAT 1 05 May 2005 B. Text of Launch Information 2005-020A FOTON M-2 is a Russian retrievable craft that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 12:00 UT on 31 May 2005. The 6.3 tonne craft carries three modules: a spherical retrievable unit that houses many microgravity experiments, a battery pack and a service module. The retrievable module carries several units totaling 550 kg to conduct 39 ESA-built experiments. Among them are experiments in physical sciences, biology, fluid mechanics, exobiology, material science, and technology demonstration. After orbiting for 16 days, the module will be parachuted to land in Russia on 16 June 2005 at 08:32 UT. The initial orbital parameters were period 93 min, apogee 302 km, perigee 261 km, and inclination 63 deg. 2005-019A DIRECTV 8 is an American geostationary communications satellite that was launched by a Proton-M rocket from Baikonur at 17:59 UT on 22 May 2005. The 3.7 tonne satellite carries 32 Ku-band and four Ka-band transponders to provide high definition TV after parking over 93 deg-W longitude. 2005-018A NOAA 18 is an American (NOAA) weather satellite that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg AFB at 10:22 UT. It carries several weather-related instruments, and one Space Environment monitor. AVHRR-3, (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer 3) is an 8-inch diameter, afocal Cassegrain telescope with a mirror that scans (cross-track) +/- 55 deg from nadir at a rate of six revolutions per second. The 35 kg, 105 degree (Kelvin) instrument provides radiometer data encompassing the full range of Earth-reflected visible light and Earth-emitted infrared light, in five wavelength channels. HIRS 4 (High-resolution InfraRed Sounder 4) scans cross-track in 56 steps of 1.8 deg each to obtain in six seconds a full complement of spectral data in one visible, seven shortwave IR, and 12 longwave IR wavelengths, to enable derivation of Earth's atmospheric temperature profile, ocean surface temperature, total atmospheric ozone, and such. AMSU-A (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A) is a cross-track radiometer to measure the emissions from the atmosphere, by means of a beam of 3.3 deg, scanning +/- 48 deg from nadir. The 100 kg, 125 W instrument accommodates 15 wavelength channels between 100 and 200 GHz, to enable derivation of temperature and moisture profiles. MHS (Microwave Humidity Sounder) is a cross-track scanning radiometer with four channels between 157 and 190 GHz and a fifth channel at 89 GHz. The frequencies are sensitive to liquid water droplets and enable derivation of humidity profiles and rain drop content. SBUV-2 (Solid Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer 2) measures the ultraviolet radiance from the Sun and from the atmospheric back- scatter in 12 channels covering the wavelength range of 252-340 nm. It also carries a Cloud Cover Radiometer (CCR) at the wavelength of 379 nm. It measures the total ozone content as well as its vertical density profile along the nadir. SEM-2 (Space Environment Monitor 2) is intended to monitor the energetic electrons and protons in the radiation belt. TED (Total Energy Detector) captures the particles with energy in the 0.05-20.0 keV range, while MEPED (Medium Energy Proton Electron Detector) captures integral fluxes of the particles in range >0.03, >100, and >300 keV. SEM-2 is a small package with a mass of 15 kg and consuming 10 W. In addition to those science packages, NOAA 18 also carries three Search and Rescue receivers at 121.5, 243.0, 406.05 MHz as a participant in the international COSPAS-SARSAT effort to locate people and vessels in distress. The initial orbital parameters of NOAA 18 were period 102 min, apogee 866 km, perigee 847 km, and inclination 98.74 deg. 2005-017B HAMSAT is an Indian (ISRO) microsatellite that was launched by a PSLV-C6 rocket from Sriharikota on the southeastern coast of India at 04:44 UT on 5 May 2005. The 43 kg satellite will relay amateur VHF radio communications. The initial orbital parameters were period 97.24 min, apogee 646 km, perigee 608 km, and inclination 97.9 deg. 2005-017A CARTOSAT 1 is an Indian (ISRO) mapping and remote-sensing satellite that was launched by a PSLV C6 rocket from Sriharikota on the southeastern coast of India, at 04:44 UT on 5 May 2005. The 1.56 tonne satellite carries two f/4.5, Panchromatic cameras, one 26 deg ahead of the nadir, and another at five deg behind the nadir. Together they enable a stereoscopic image at a resolution of 2.5 m. Both cameras scan cross-track to image a swath of 30 km with the images being stored in a 12,000 pixel CCD. It stores the data in a 120 GB memory to be downlinked over Indian (or Indonesian and Russian) passes. The data from the satellite will help in topographic mapping, land use, forest cover, and river flow assessment. The initial orbital parameters were period 97.1 min, apogee 622 km, perigee 620 km, and inclination 97.9 deg. 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. The latest addition to the fleet is NAVSTAR 56, 2004-045A. 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.glonass-center.ru/, maintained by the Coordinational Scientific Information Center (CSIC), Russian Space Forces. According to CSIC the latest addition to the fleet are GLONASS 712, GLONASS 796, and GLONASS 797. Their International IDs are 2004-053A, 2004-053B, and 2004-053C, not necessarily in that order. 4. Visually bright satellites/rockets. See http://www.space-track.org/perl/bulk_files.pl. Users must register. Conditions apply 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), 2005 ------------ ----------- ---------- 2004-030B (28390) R/B Delta 2 02 May 6. 60-day decay predictions. See http://www.space-track.org/perl/60day_decay_predict.pl. Users must register for access. Conditions apply 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.) 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 690.1, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information (REQUEST@ MAIL630.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 of interest for Earth-centered s/c can be generated through 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@MAIL630.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. 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, news papers, and some Web sites.