Satellite Designation

Designation:

• Name of Satellite, Alternate Names:
  The current or most popularly used name is listed first, with alternate or previously used names given under the title. A satellite can have several names during its operational lifetime, especially commercial satellites that are sold, leased, transferred as assets in business transactions, or simply used by more than one user. U.S. government intelligence satellites may be known by several names at the same time. These different names are taken up in the alphabetical lists.
• Country of Operator/Owner:
  The home country identified with the operator/owner is given in the case next the name, i.e., the country that operates or owns the satellite or the home country of the business entity that does so. If this includes three or fewer countries, each is listed; otherwise the project is simply designated as Multinational. An exception to this is projects of the European Space Agency (ESA), which represent the joint efforts of its 15 member states and are designated as ESA.
• The numbering is for unmanned spacecrafts, failed spacecrafts are included.
  Manned spacecrafts have a separated numbering.

Launch data:

• Designation:
  • NORAD Number:
    The NORAD number is the five-digit number assigned by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) for each satellite in their catalogue. The number is assigned when an object is first observed, and remains with the object throughout its existence.
  • COSPAR Number:
    The COSPAR number is the international designation assigned by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) to each object launched into space. Names of satellites often change, but this number remains constant. The number reflects the year of the launch and sequence of launch within that year. For example, a COSPAR number of 1998-063B would indicate that the satellite was launched in 1998, and that it was on the 63rd successful launch of that year. The "B" indicates that the given satellite was the second object catalogued from that launch.
    These list used a abbreviation of this number, ex: 1998-063B = 98063B.
• Launch date and time:
  Date of launch and time are always in UTC.
  
  

  -	Winter time	Summer time
  BST (Britisch Summer Time)		UTC +1 hours
  CET (Central Europeen Time	UTC +1 hours	UTC +2 hours
  GMT / UTC	-	-
  EDT		UTC -4 hours
  EST		UTC -5 hours
  JST (Japan Standard Time)		UTC +9 hours

  
  
• Launch Site:
  The name and/or location of the launch facility.
• Launch Vehicle:
  The name and model of the launch vehicle used to lift the satellite into orbit. The launch is often contracted separately from the construction of the satellite, either by the prime contractor or the owner of the satellite.
• Mission:
  
• Type of Orbit:
  We divide satellite orbits into two broad classes: (1) nearly circular orbits and (2) elliptical orbits. Satellites in elliptical orbits have apogees and perigees that differ significantly from each other and they spend time at many different altitudes above the earth's surface. We categorize satellite orbits with eccentricity less than 0.14 as nearly circular, and those with eccentricity 0.14 and higher as elliptical.
  • Nearly Circular Orbits are further classified by their altitude:
    • Low Earth Orbit (LEO) refers to orbits with altitudes between 80 km and roughly 1,700 km, where the upper altitude is chosen to correspond to an orbital period of 2 hours. In the database, LEO orbits are further labeled as:
      LEO/E-low earth equatorial orbit, with inclination between 0° and 20°
      LEO/I-low earth intermediate orbit, with inclination between 20° and 85°
      LEO/P-low earth polar orbit, with inclination between 85° and 95°
      LEO/R-low earth retrograde orbit, with inclination between 104° and 180°
      LEO/Sun-sync-low earth sun-synchronous orbit, with inclination between 95° and 104°
      Note: The upper altitude used to define LEO is somewhat arbitrary and different authors use different values. This value is chosen to be consistent with Jonathan McDowell's conventions (http://planet4589.org/space/log/orbts.html, accessed November 3, 2005). Similarly, the labeling of LEO orbits follows McDowell's.
      
    • Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) refers to orbits with altitudes greater than 1700 km and less than 35,700, corresponding to orbital periods between 2 and 24 hours. The most important region of this band is near 20,000 km, which corresponds to semi-synchronous orbits (12-hour period).
    • Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) refers to orbits with altitudes of approximately 35,700 kilometers, which corresponds to an orbital period of approximately 24 hours, allowing these satellites to appear nearly stationary as viewed from the earth. In the database, a number after ¡°GEO¡± is the earth longitude of the point over which the GEO satellite sits.
  • Elliptical Orbits are also further classified in the database:
    Elliptical/CLO refers to cislunar orbits, which have an apogee greater than 318,200 km.
    Elliptical/DHEO refers to deep highly eccentric earth orbits, which have orbital period greater than 25 hours and eccentricity greater than 0.5.
    Elliptical/Molniya refers to orbits with period between 11.5 and 12.5 hours, eccentricity between 0.5 and 0.77, and inclination between 62° and 64°.
• Perigee:
  The altitude above the Earth's surface of the satellite's perigee, which is the point of the orbit closest to the Earth's center of mass, given in kilometers.
• Apogee:
  The altitude above the Earth's surface of the satellite's apogee, which is the point of the orbit farthest from the Earth's center of mass, given in kilometers.
• Eccentricity:
  The eccentricity of a satellite's orbit describes how strongly the orbit deviates from a circle. An orbit with eccentricity of zero is a circle.
• Inclination:
  The angle between the orbital plane of the satellite and equatorial plane of the Earth, measured in degrees.
• Period:
  The time required for the satellite to complete one full orbit of the Earth, given in minutes.

Spacecraft data:

• Prime contractor:
  The prime contractor for the satellite's construction. The construction of satellites generally involves a number of subcontractors as well. Frequent corporate mergers mean that the name listed as the prime contractor may not be the name of that corporation today. In creating the database, we listed what was shown on the company or agency's website at the time the database was originally constructed. (These will not necessarily be updated with each new version of the database).
  Country of Contractor:
  The home nation of the corporation, institution, or governmental agency that was prime contractor for the construction of the satellite.
• Operator/Owner:
  The satellite's current operational controller. The operator is not necessarily the satellite's owner, as is the case for leased satellites.
• Platform:
  
• Mass at launch:
  The mass of the satellite at the time of launch, including fuel, given in kilograms.
• Satellite Dry Mass:
  The mass of the satellite without fuel, measured in kilograms. We have included this number when listed in one of the sources, but users should be aware that sources are often ambiguous about this term's definition, and it is possible the Database entries may refer to quantities defined differently. In some cases the primary source indicates explicitly that this mass refers to the beginning of the satellite's life, after the satellite has been placed in its assigned orbit, and therefore apparently excludes kick motors, etc. These cases are indicated by "(BOL)" following the entry.
• Basic shape:
  
• Dimensions:
  Always in metres.
• Power:
  The amount of useable electric power produced by the satellite, often by solar panels, given in watts. The power produced typically decreases over time; a number followed by "(BOL)" or "(EOL)" refers to the level of power generated near the beginning or end, respectively, of the satellite's planned lifetime.
• Expected Lifetime:
  The planned operational lifetime of the satellite, given in years. This figure is reported by the satellite's operator and may be based on the expected failure rate for the hardware and software of the satellite, the fuel capacity of the satellite and the expected requirements for maneuvering and stationkeeping (many satellites run out of fuel long before their hardware and software wear out), the planned budget for operating the satellite, and the expected availability of improved future generation satellites. This figure can be misleading, especially in terms of scientific satellites. For example, the Akebono satellite, launched in 1989 with a design life of one year, is still functioning in 2005.
• nog te klasseren D: Users The affiliation of the primary users of the satellite is described with one or more of the keywords: civil (academic, amateur), commercial, government (meteorological, scientific, etc.), military. Satellites can be multi-use, hosting, for example, dedicated transponders for both commercial and military applications. E: Purpose The discipline in which the satellite is used. The purposes listed are those self-reported by the satellite¡¯s operator. A slash between terms indicates the satellite is used for multiple purposes. Terms in parentheses give more detail on the primary purpose.

References:

All sources for the information on each satellite are reflected in these columns (see Note on
Sources above). Column BC indicates the source used for the orbital data (perigee, apogee,
inclination, period).
oosa ¡© Office of Outer Space Affairs, United Nations. All nations have agreed to inform the
OOSA of any launches, and they are catalogued at this site. Unfortunately, many do not
comply with this agreement or do so in an incomplete manner
(http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/SORegister/regist.html).
SC-ASCR ¡© An excellent database of orbital spacecraft is maintained on the website of the
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
(http://www.lib.cas.cz/knav/space.40/INDEX1.HTM).
Heavens Above ¡© (http://www.heavens-above.com)
GS ¡© www.globalsecurity.org. Site created and maintained by John Pike, an expert on
military space (http://globalsecurity.org/space/library/report/2005/satellitetables2004.htm).