Re: Question on recent Gorizont launch

From: Phillip Clark (psclark@dircon.co.uk)
Date: Wed Jun 14 2000 - 12:53:45 PDT

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    Since this was a new launch profile which USSPACECOM was not expecting,
    the have completely screwed up with assigning everything !   Last week i
    was e-mailed a copy of a Russian launch announcement which gave details of
    the five burns completed and then to be completed by the Briz-M stage.
    
    Briz-M used one burn to reach LEO at ~56.6 deg inclination.   Burn 2
    raised apogee to ~4,000 km and reduced inclination to 50.3 deg.   Burn 3
    went into GTO at 48.8 deg, at which point the rocket stage's external
    propellant tank was discarded.   That is what USSPACECOM has been tracking
    all the time as "Gorizont 33" (26372).
    
    Still chugging away, Briz-M performed a fourth burn to enter a geosynch
    drift orbit - just below a true GEO - where the satellite separated.   An
    orbit below 1,436 min is required to allow the satellite to drift to 145
    deg E where it is to be operated.
    
    And for its final trick, Briz-M did a small burn to remove itself from the
    deployment orbit and presumably get rid of residual propellant, reducing
    the risk a little (or not so little) "bang" sometime in the future as
    vapour pressure from the excpanding residual propellant would have
    ruptured the stage.
    
    So, we are looking for three object from this flight.   Gorizont which
    should be found manoeuvring slightly as it approached 145 deg E, Briz-M in
    a slightly lower orbit (presumably 26373) and the propellant tank which I
    am sure is what has had its orbit assigned to Gorizont as 26372 for the
    last week.   Note that the orbits for 26377 and 26372 are virtually
    identical - I guess its the same object with the orbit taken at differnet
    times.
    
    Isn't it good to know that the safety of the western world relies upon the
    accurate tracking of The Mountain's computer ?!! :-) :-) :-)
    
    Phillip Clark
    
    
    
    On Wed, 14 Jun 2000, Ron Lee wrote:
    
    > Gorizont 33 Briz-M external tank                 34990 x 371 km
    > 1 26372U 00029A   00165.20170867  .00001355  00000-0  26543-2 0   250
    > 2 26372  48.7628 306.7981 7194646   1.7614  40.1667  2.32673139   153
    > DS SL-12 R/B                                     36009 x 35500 km
    > 1 26373U 00029B   00165.00460346 -.00000017  00000-0  00000-0 0    10
    > 2 26373   1.0590 317.5126 0060364  72.2590 297.4510  1.00397355   109
    > UNK                                              34990 x 370 km
    > 1 26377U 00029C   00165.92168859  .00001351  00000-0  26543-2 0    12
    > 2 26377  48.7606 306.6022 7194794   1.9365 283.2360  2.32675209   170
    > 
    > These elsets are confusing.  It would appear that #26373 might be the 
    > payload unless a rocket body inserted the payload into GSO.  In this
    > case there should be four pieces.  Is #26373 the payload?
    > 
    > Ron Lee
    > 
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    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Phillip S Clark                                     22 Winterbourne Close
    Molniya Space Consultancy                           Hastings
    Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches    E Sussex  TN34 1XG
                                                        U.K.
    
    Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more 
    interesting it is !
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