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.