Jonathan's Space Report Sep 28, 1989 (no.26) --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Soyuz TM-8/Mir/Progress M complex continues in orbit, crewed by Aleksandr Viktorenko and Aleksandr Serebrov. The station's orbit was altered on Sep 13 using the engine of Progress M. Progress M does not carry a recoverable capsule as has been reported elsewhere; recoveries will begin with the 6th Progress M mission. Modul' D is scheduled for launch Oct. 16 Atlantis/STS-34/Galileo is scheduled for launch on Oct 12. A classified payload was launched on Sep 6 by Titan II from Vandenberg. It is probably a US Navy WhiteCloud ocean surveillance cluster. The Resurs-F remote sensing satellite launched Sep 6 carries a West German materials processing experiment. Six small satellites successfully spaced Sep 14. Kosmos-2038 to Kosmos-2043 are probably communications relays used by the Soviet Navy. The Tsiklon vehicle is slowly replacing the Kosmos launch vehicle for a number of missions, and this 6-up launch is one of a series thought to be replacing a series of octuple launches on the Kosmos vehicle. Kosmos-2044 was launched by Soyuz from Plesetsk on Sep 15. It is an international biological research satellite, whose payload includes US experiments. Kosmos-2045 up on Sep 22, no details yet. FLTSATCOM F-8 launched by Atlas Centaur on Sep 25 from Canaveral. The US Navy UHF geostatioanry communications relay was finally launched after a 2 year delay; the previous launch vehicle was damaged in a pad accident. Atlas Centaur launches will from now on be carried out by General Dynamics rather than NASA. The last major NASA expendable vehicle launch is the COBE satellite set for no earlier than Nov 9 on a Delta. A Molniya communications satellite was launched from Plesetsk on Sep 27. The Aktivniy-IK magnetospheric research satellite was due for launch soon afterwards. Kosmos-2031 reentered on Sep 15 after 59 days in orbit; despite its unusual inclination and orbit it was probably a variant of the standard 4th generation spy satellite rather than a new model. (c) 1989 Jonathan McDowell