All information in this publication was received between 25 May 1997 and
24 June 1997.
A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates.
USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.
1997-030A (24836) IRIDIUM 14
18 Jun
1997-030G (24842) IRIDIUM 11
18 Jun
1997-030B (24837) IRIDIUM 12
18 Jun
1997-029A (24834) Fengyun 2
10 Jun
1997-030C (24838) IRIDIUM 10
18 Jun
1997-028A (24827) Cosmos 2344
6 Jun
1997-030D (24839) IRIDIUM 9
18 Jun
1997-027B (24820) INSAT 2D
3 Jun
1997-030E (24840) IRIDIUM 13
18 Jun
1997-027A (24819) INMARSAT 3-F4 3 Jun
1997-030F (24841) IRIDIUM 16
18 Jun
1997-026A (24812) TELSTAR 5
24 May
B. Text of Launch Announcements.
1997-030A, 1997-030B, 1997-030C, 1997-030D, 1997-030E, 1997-030F,
1997-030G
IRIDIUM 14, IRIDIUM 12, IRIDIUM 10, IRIDIUM 9, IRIDIUM 13, IRIDIUM
16, and IRIDIUM 11 are American low altitude communications
spacecraft. They were designed for linking mobile telephone
communications around the world. These seven, 650 kg spacecraft
were launched by a Proton-K rocket with a DM-2M booster stage from
Baykonur cosmodrome at 14:03 UT. Initial orbital parameters of all
were similar: period 95 min, apogee 516 km, perigee 498 km, and
inclination 86.4 deg.
1997-029A
Fengyun 2 is a PRC geosynchronous meteorological spacecraft that
was launched by a Long March 3 rocket from Xichang launch station
at 12:01 UT. The 1,380 kg spacecraft carries a scanning radiometer
and a cloud cover mapper and was parked at 105-E longitude to cover
100 million square-km centered on China.
1997-028A
Cosmos 2344 is a Russian military reconnaissance spacecraft that
was launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 16:57
UT. According to a Moscow daily Kommersant this may be the same
satellite that was code named 11F66 in 1984, but whose completion
had been repeatedly delayed. The booster stage, DM-2M used in the
launch is expected to be used in several more imminent commercial
launches. Initial orbital parameters were period 130.1 min, apogee
2,748 km, perigee 1,509 km, and inclination 63.4 deg.
1997-027B
INSAT 2D is an Indian geosynchronous communications spacecraft that
was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou in French Guiana
at 23:21 UT. The 2,079 kg spacecraft carries a total of 23
transponders in the C- and Ku-Bands to provide voice and video
communications to the countries in the west, south, and southeast
Asia. The parking longitude is likely to be 74-E or 93-E longitude.
1997-027A
INMARSAT 3-F4 is a geosynchronous communications spacecraft of that
international consortium that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket
from French Guiana at 23:21 UT. The 2,400 kg spacecraft carries
transponders to enable communications among mobile vehicles, ships,
and planes in the Atlantic region after parking at 45-E longitude.
1997-026A
TELSTAR 5 is an American geosynchronous spacecraft that was
launched by a Proton-K rocket from Baykonur cosmodrome at 17:00 UT.
The 3,600 kg spacecraft carries 24 C-band and 28 Ku-band
transponders to provide voice and video communications after
parking at 97-W longitude.