TeamNathanFTW’s New and Improved Blog : 2007-04-08

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Kosmos 2345

1997-041A

The Kosmos-2345 satellite was launched in Aug 1997. The Proton-K reached a 53 degree parking orbit instead of the usual 51.6 degree one because of a launch crew targeting error. This led to a 50 degree transfer orbit instead of a 46 degree one, and a final elliptical geosynchronous orbit of 34941 x 37747 km instead of a circular one of 35805 x 35917 km. The DM first burn appears to have been on the fifth orbit.

Kosmos-2345 was an Oko-S class satellite, Initial position is 14W with drift to 24W. Space Command seems to have had problems tracking the satellite, with element sets oscillating between an object at 23W and an object at 27W. After early 1999 it tracked an object drifting slowly away from the 25W position, which may or may not have been K-2345.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Kosmos-2345



1997 Aug 14	2049:14	Launch by Proton-K	KB
	2058	Stage 3 sep
			164 x 190 x 53.2
1997 Aug 14	0400?	Blok DM-2 burn 1
1997 Aug 15			621.85 227 x 35282 x 49.9 (TLE)
	0900?	DM2 burn 2
	0920?	DM2 sep
1997 Aug 17	1400		1433.95 35737 x 35752 x 0.09 GEO 1.4W+0.5/d
	1745		1433.91 35736 x 35750 x 0.09 GEO 1.3W+0.5/d
1997 Aug 20			1433.88 35736 x 35749 x 0.1 GEO 0.0W+0.5E
1997 Aug 21			1438.87 34316 x 37365 x 1.3 GEO 16.6W+0.7W
1997 Aug 29		1436.96 34298 x 37273 x 1.3 GEO 22.1W
1997 Sep 17		mv out
1997 Oct 1		mv in	1436.07 35021 x 36550 x 1.2 GEO 26.3W
1997 Oct 6			1436.06 35021 x 36550 x 1.2 GEO 25.7W
1997 Dec 1			1436.23 35033 x 36544 x 1.1 GEO 26.9W
1998 May 20			1436.00 35040 x 36529 x 0.8 GEO 23.4W
1998 Jun 28			1436.16 35041 x 36534 x 0.7 GEO 22.7W
1999 Jan 27			1436.22 35070 x 36507 x 0.3 GEO 23.4W+0.05W
1999 Jan 30		mv out, drift
1999 Apr 23			1435.82 35075 x 36487 x 0.1 GEO 20.0W
1999 Oct 16			1435.89 35070 x 36494 x 0.3 GEO 10.6W+0.04E
2002 Aug 29			1437.91 35132 x 36511 x 2.7 GEO 62.5E+0.5W

Thursday, April 12, 2007

SJ-8

2006-035A

"Seed satellite" (shijian baohao yuzhong weixing). carried 215 kilograms of seeds of vegetables, fruits, grains and cotton.

Based on FSW. Launch 2006 Sep 9; landed in Sichuan province Sep 24.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

SJ-8



2006 Sep 9	0700	Launch by CZ-2C	JQ
		Stage 2 burn
	0710?	Stage 2 MECO
		Stage 2 sep	177 x 445 x 63.0
2006 Sep 24	0223?	Deorbit
2006 Sep 24	0243	Landed

DSP-18

1997-008A

The DSP 18 satellite was launched by the first Titan 4B in Feb 1997. The Titan 4B placed the IUS/DSP combination in a 185 x 759 km parking orbit, a much higher apogee than earlier launches. The two stage IUS then carried the DSP to geostationary orbit. The craft was stationed at the Indian Ocean position until the end of 2001 when it was moved to a reserve position.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

DSP 18



1997 Feb 23	2020	Launch by Titan 4B	CC LC40
	2022	Core ignition T+130s
	2022	SRM sep at T+143s
	2025	Stage 2 ig. T+320s
		PLF sep
	2028	Stage 2 cutoff T+8:45
	2028	Stage 2 sep	94.0 185 x 759 x 28.6 (UN)
	2137?	IUS SRM-1
1997 Feb 24	0240?	IUS SRM-2
1997 Feb 24	0300?	DSP sep from SRM-2
1997 Feb 25?		Cover sep	35231 x 36767 x 1.43 (UN)
1997 Jul		GEO 70E
1999 Jan			GEO 70E
2001 Nov		mv out	GEO 70E
2002 Feb?		mv in	GEO 104E
2003 Mar			GEO 104E
2003 Nov			GEO 103E

Kosmos 2343

1997-024A

This was the 250th launch of the Soyuz-U from Baikonur. Kosmos-2343 reentered on Sep 18 after 126 days. The capsule recovery dates are not publicly available: in the satellite database, I use fiducial dates of May 31, Jun 15, Jun 30, Jul 12, Jul 28, Aug 12, Aug 26, Sep 16 and a fiducial deorbit burn of 225 m/s.

Date	Time	Event	Orbit

Kosmos-2343



1997 May 15	1210:00	Launch by Soyuz-U	KB LC31
	1214	Blok-A sep
	1219	Blok-I sep
	1230		89.39 196 x 292 x 64.9
	1500		89.44 169 x 324 x 64.9
1997 May 16	0400		89.38 170 x 316 x 64.9
1997 May 19	0200		89.80 205 x 323 x 64.9
1997 May 23	0200		89.73 204 x 317 x 64.9
1997 May 28			89.61 202 x 307 x 64.9
1997 May 28		Orbit raise	89.97 202 x 343 x 64.9
1997 Jun 4			89.81 200 x 329 x 64.9
1997 Jun 4		Orbit raise	90.04 216 x 336 x 64.9
1997 Jul 13			89.317 201 x 279 x 64.9
1997 Jul 13		Orbit raise	89.95 207 x 336 x 64.9
1997 Jul 14		Orbit raise	89.97 204 x 340 x 64.9
1997 Aug 5			89.48 196 x 300 x 64.9
1997 Aug 6		Orbit raise	89.79 210 x 317 x 64.9
1997 Aug 12			89.67 208 x 307 x 64.9
1997 Aug 13		Orbit raise	89.97 210 x 335 x 64.9
1997 Aug 21			89.80 203 x 325 x 64.9
1997 Aug 22		Orbit raise	90.18 243 x 323 x 64.9
1997 Aug 26			90.16 243 x 320 x 64.9
		Orbit lower	89.98 230 x 315 x 64.9
1997 Sep 8			89.78 227 x 299 x 64.9
1997 Sep 18			88.48 181 x 216 x 64.8
1997 Sep 22		Deorbited