FW: Master Iridium constellation map with corrected SV Identifier

MALEY, PAUL D. (paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov)
Tue, 8 Dec 1998 09:52:11 -0600 

Attached is the OFFICIAL MASTER LIST OF IRIDIUM SATELLITE NOMENCLATURE as
provided to me by an official source within the Iridium program at Motorola
on December 7, 1998.  They have requested me to provide it to the SEESAT
community for current reference. Iridium uses the term "serial number" to
denote what we might call the satellite's common name such as Iridium XX or
IR XX.  

The IR number in parentheses (for two satellite) is not a usable number now
and is not expected to be used in the future. However, beginning with the
next Iridium launch, Motorola will be reusing common names for some failed
satellites that are being replaced or are spares; in this case IR 11 and 20
will reappear. The two objects will be different in the USSpaceCommand data
base and it will be up to them to resolve any conflict (perhaps by placing a
letter after the number?). 

I have added to their information 1) annotation on the serial numbers that
appear to be different in OIG TLE's, and 2) annotation of the satellites
that are known by the SEESAT community to have failed. For item 1) it will
also be up to USSpaceCommand to somehow solve this identity swapping
problem.

Future updates to this will be made via this same method as warranted. I
have been told that there is no plan at this time to create an official
Iridium master web site.  I hope this information will be of help to
everyone in the community.

Paul

Paul D. Maley

tel. 281-244-0208; fax: 281-244-1140
email: paul.d.maley1@jsc.nasa.gov
latitude 29.6049 north, longitude 95.1086 west, elev 6m

>     Listed below is the long-awaited master map of the Iridium
> constellation as of now (early December 1998).  This list corrects a
> number of errors found in various TLE sources that have come about as a
> result of instances where NORAD has at some point inadvertently swapped
> our satellite vehicle (SV) identities, usually due to one SV maneuvering
> relative to another.
> 
>     Note that we have used our program-specific nomenclature (plane n,
> where n=1 to 6, and slot m, where m = 1 to 11) to uniquely identify each
> mission satellite in the operational constellation.  Non-mission SVs in
> each plane have also been uniquely identified and correlated with their
> NORAD/COSPAR identifiers.  Please feel free to disseminate this
> information via SeeSat and other outlets in order to help eliminate the
> ongoing confusion that still exists over our satellite identifications.
> 
> The following lists the correct Iridium SV tail numbers referenced to
> plane/slot location in the constellation and NORAD/COSPAR identifiers.
> These are the official identifications used by the Motorola Iridium
> operations group.  Note that in two cases to date (and more cases to
> come with future launches) the tail number is _not_ the SV serial
> number.  The SV tail number is a telephony routing node identifier that
> is coincidentally the serial number for the initial population of SVs -
> these tail numbers will be re-used in the future as replacement SVs are
> inserted into the constellation.
> 
> Mission SVs by Plane/Slot
> ---------------------------
> 
> Location Tail # Ser # NORAD COSPAR
> ------------------------------------------
> 
> P1S01 74  25345 98032D
> P1S02 72  25343 98032B
> P1S03 73  25344 98032C
> P1S04 70  25342 98032A
> P1S05 62  25285 98021A
> P1S06 63  25286 98021B
> P1S07 64  25287 98021C
> P1S08 65  25288 98021D
> P1S09 66  25289 98021E
> P1S10 67  25290 98021F
> P1S11 68  25291 98021G
> 
> P2S01 22  24907 97043E
> P2S02 23  24906 97043D
> P2S03 76  25432 98048B
> P2S04 25  24904 97043B
> P2S05 45  25104 97082A
> P2S06 46  24905 97043C
> P2S07 47  25106 97082C
> P2S08 48  25107 97082D
> P2S09 49  25108 97082E
> P2S10 26  24903 97043A
> P2S11 3 (78) 25431 98048A
> 
> P3S01 55  25272 98019A
> P3S02 28  24948 97051E
> P3S03 29  24944 97051A
> P3S04 30  24949 97051F
> P3S05 31  24950 97051G
> P3S06 32  24945 97051B
> P3S07 33  24946 97051C
> P3S08 57  25273 98019B
> P3S09 58  25274 98019C
> P3S10 59  25275 98019D
> P3S11 60  25276 98019E
> 
> P4S01 19  24965 97056A
> P4S02 34  24969 97056E
> P4S03 35  24966 97056B OIG REFERS TO 24966 as IR 37
> P4S04 36  24967 97056C
> P4S05 5  24795 97020D
> P4S06 6  24794 97020C
> P4S07 7  24793 97020B
> P4S08 8  24792 97020A
> P4S09 4  24796 97020E
> P4S10 37  24968 97056D OIG REFERS TO 24968 as IR 35
> P4S11 61  25263 98018B
> 
> P5S01 50  25172 98010D OIG REFERS TO 25172 as IR 53
> P5S02 56  25170 98010B
> P5S03 52  25169 98010A OIG REFERS TO 25169 as IR 50
> P5S04 53  25173 98010E OIG REFERS TO 25173 as IR 54
> P5S05 9  24838 97030C
> P5S06 10  24839 97030D
> P5S07 54  25171 98010C OIG REFERS TO 25171 as IR 52
> P5S08 12  24837 97030B
> P5S09 13  24840 97030E
> P5S10 83  25531 98066E
> P5S11 16  24841 97030F
> 
> P6S01 18  24872 97034D
> P6S02 42  25077 97077A
> P6S03 40  25041 97069C
> P6S04 39  25042 97069D
> P6S05 80  25469 98051C
> P6S06 17  24870 97034B
> P6S07 15  24869 97034A
> P6S08 81  25468 98051B
> P6S09 38  25043 97069E
> P6S10 41  25040 97069B
> P6S11 43  25039 97069A
> 
> Non-mission SVs by Plane
> ---------------------------
> 
> Location Tail # Ser # NORAD COSPAR
> ------------------------------------------
> 
> P1 75  25346 98032E
> 
> P2 24  25105 97082B KNOWN FAILURE
> P2 69  25319 98026A
> P2 71  25320 98026B KNOWN FAILURE
> 
> P3 27  24947 97051D KNOWN FAILURE
> 
> P4 51  25262 98018A
> 
> P5 11  24842 97030G KNOWN FAILURE
> P5 14  24836 97030A KNOWN FAILURE
> P5 84  25530 98066D
> P5 85  25529 98066C
> P5 86  25528 97066B
> P5 2 (87) 25527 98066A
> 
> P6 20  24871 97034C KNOWN FAILURE
> P6 21  24873 97034EKNOWN FAILURE
> P6 44  25078 97077B KNOWN FAILURE
> P6 77  25471 98051E
> P6 79  25470 98051D KNOWN FAILURE
> P6 82  25467 98051A
>