Jonathan's Space Report Jul 12, 1989 (no. 19) Finally I have access again, so here goes on a catchup.. --------------------------------------------------------------------- OV-102 Columbia due to be rolled out to the pad tomorrow for mission STS-28. The first Titan 4 launch on Jun 15 was a success. Its payload was a new generation missile early warning satellite. The upper stage was an IUS, the same stage used by the Shuttle to launch TDRS and Magellan. The last Ariane 3 went into orbit on Jul 11. It carried ESA's Olympus experimental communications satellite, formerly known as L-SAT. Ariane 4 will now be the standard Ariane variant. The first Resurs-F remote sensing satellite was recovered on Jun 17 after 23 days in orbit; a second Resurs-F satellite went into space on Jun 27. On Jul 5, another similar remote sensing satellite, also operated by the Priroda center, was launched and given the name Kosmos-2029; the distinction between the satellites given the new Resurs-F name and similar satellites which are still given the Kosmos code name is not clear yet. Another Soviet program was further declassified with the launch on Jul 4 of Nadezhda, a civilian navigation satellite. The Nadezhda satellite carries Doppler-type navigation equipment and a COSPAS-SARSAT search-and-rescue system. Satellites of this class have been launched for over a decade with Kosmos codenames; it appears that the various civilian subprograms are being separated from the Kosmos program and declassified. Two recent launches by Proton to geostationary orbit: Raduga-1 on Jun 21 and Gorizont on Jul 5. Previous Raduga satellites have been named simply 'Raduga' rather than 'Raduga-1', so this may imply that a 'Raduga-2' model will be introduced soon. Kosmos-2026 launched Jun 7, a Soviet navy navigation satellite. The 38th Molniya-3 launched Jun 8, a Soviet comms relay satellite. Kosmos-2027 launched Jun 14, probably a radar calibration target or some other kind of military support satellite. Kosmos-2028 launched Jun 16, a GRU recon satellite replacing Kosmos-2018 which landed on Jun 19. .----------------------------------------------------------------. | Jonathan McDowell | phone : (617)495-7144 | | Center for Astrophysics | uucp: husc6!harvard!cfa200!mcdowell | | 60 Garden Street | bitnet : mcdowell@cfa.bitnet | | Cambridge MA 02138 | inter : mcdowell@cfa.harvard.edu | | USA | span : cfa::mcdowell | | | telex : 92148 SATELLITE CAM | | | FAX : (617)495-7356 | '----------------------------------------------------------------'