1992-086B
USA 89 was deployed from the Shuttle in Dec 1992. Between 15 Dec 1992 14:19 UTC and 16 Dec 1992 05:27, USA 89 appears to have changed its orbit and was not seen again. The payload and its upper stage rocket were cataloged belatedly on around 18 Feb 1993; it is possible that the Dec 15 burn was only a small one analagous to the 1989 Aug 16 burn of USA 40 and the major rocket burn was in Feb 1993, two months after launch. However I'll assume that the burn was on Dec 15, with new perigee at the southernmost part of the orbit, and adopt the 2117 UTC opportunity as a fiducial case.
Object 1992-86C was tracked in a 372 x 7265 km x 56.9 deg orbit in 1997.
| Object | UN Reg orbit | Doc |
| 1992-086B | 366 x 377 x 56.9 | 267, Feb 1993 - payload |
| 1992-086C | 366 x 377 x 56.9 | 267, Feb 1993 - debris or booster |
| 1992-086F | 890 x 891 x 57.0 | 360, Jan 1999 - debris or booster |
In Jan 1999 a rocket stage part, 1992-86F, was cataloged in an 890 x 891 km x 57.0 deg orbit, as registered with the UN.
It's difficult to reconcile these two orbits. It makes sense that 1992-86C is the perigee stage, with 1992-86B using a propulsion system to reach a 12-hour Molniya orbit. The 890 km orbit may be part of a secondary payload of some kind or may be a purely fictitious orbit released by the US as misinformation, or just in error.
A set of debris objects were cataloged associated with USA 89. Despite the UN filing on 1992-086F, I speculate that they are in the perigee stage orbit.
| USA 89 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 Dec 2 | 1918 | DoD-1 deploy from Shuttle | |
| 1992 Dec 11.5 | 92.00 365x379x57.0 | ||
| 1992 Dec 13 | 92.00 364x380x57.0 | ||
| 1992 Dec 15 | 2117? | mv | 372 x 7265 x 56.9 |
| 1993 Feb 18? | Upper stage burn, rocket sep | ||
| 1993 Feb? | Payload burn? | 372 x 38000? x 63? | |
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