SPACEWARN Bulletin, SPX-631 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 2006 and 31 May 2006.) 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2006-020B 29163 THAICOM 5 27 May 2006 2006-020A 29162 SATMEX 6 27 May 2006 2006-019A 29157 COMPASS 2 26 May 2006 2006-018A 29155 GOES 13 24 May 2006 2006-017A 29111 COSMOS 2420 03 May 2006 B. Text of Launch Information 2006-020B THAICOM 5 is a Thai geostationary communications satellite that was launched by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou at 21:09 UT on 27 May 2006. The 2.8 tonne (with fuel) triaxially-stabilized craft will provide television and internet services to the Asia-Pacific region through its 25 C-band and 14 Ku-band transponders after parking over 78.5 deg-E longitude. It will replace the aging THAICOM 1 and THAICOM 2 satellites that were launched in 1993 and 1994. 2006-020A SATMEX 6 is a Mexican geostationary communications satellite that was launched by an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou at 21:09 UT on 27 May 2006. The 5.7 tonne (with fuel) craft will provide voice, data, and video services to Mexico, South America and continental United States, through its 36 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders after parking over 109.2 deg-W longitude. 2006-019A COMPASS 2 (Complex Orbital Magneto-Plasma Autonomous Small Satellite 2) is a Russian (IZMIRAN) ionospheric microsatellite that was launched by a Shtil 1 rocket (a modified submarine-based ICBM) from a nuclear submarine in Barents Sea at 18:50 UT on 26 May 2006. It is also known as KOMPAS 2 in Russian language. The 80 kg satellite carries detectors for electromagnetic signatures created by/before earthquakes and volcanoes. The initial orbital parameters were period 93.9 min, apogee 525 km, perigee 402 km, and inclination 78.9 deg. 2006-018A GOES 13 is an American (NOAA) geostationary weather satellite that was launched by a Delta 4 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 22:11 UT on 24 May 2006. The 3.2 tonne (with fuel), 2.3 kW craft carries the usual set of GOES monitors: imager, sounder, SEM package, X-ray imager, energetic particle detector, and ground-data relaying equipment. The parking longitude is yet to be finalized. More details are available at http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goes/ Imager: This is a multi-channel instrument covering 0.52-13.7 micron band in five discrete channels. It carries a two-axis scanning mirror to scan east-west and north-south, covering the entire hemisphere below it. Clouds are imaged in four channels, water vapor in one channel, and surface temperature in one (or three) channels, fires and smoke in two (or four) channels. Sounder: The so-called Sounder carries a 19-channel, discrete-filter, passive radiometer covering the wavelength range of 0.7-14.71 microns. It looks toward the horizon to monitor the radiation; the data can then be processed to provide vertical profiles of temperature, water vapor, and clouds. SEM: The Space Environment Monitor is a standard package in all GOES missions. It carries an energetic particle sensor (EPS)to obtain the local fluxes of electrons, protons and alpha-particles. Its XRS monitors to X-ray flux from the Sun in two wavelength bands: 0.05- 0.3 nm, and 0.1-0.8 nm. A magnetometer monitors the field vector of the disturbed by geomagnetic activity. A five-channel EUV telescope monitors the solar ultraviolet radiation in the 10-126 nm band. X-Ray Imager: The imager maps the X-ray emitting regions on the Sun in the bands 0.6-3.0 and 0.6-6.0 nm, once a minute. The resolution is about 3 arc-min, covering the field of view of 42 arc-min. 2006-017A COSMOS 2420 is a Russia military satellite that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Plesetsk at 17:38 UT on 03 May 2006. The initial orbital parameters were period 89.8 min, apogee 337 km, perigee 189 km, and inclination 67.2 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 57, 2005-038A. 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 2005-050A, 2005-050B, and 2005-050C. 4. Visually bright satellites/rockets. See http://www.space-track.org/perl/bulk_files.pl. Users must register. Conditions apply. The list has not been updated since a long time ago. 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), 2006 ------------ ----------- ---------- 2003-060F (28199) R/B (Aux.Mot) Proton-K 13 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 URLs, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/, and http://cdaweb.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.