Navstar 46 (USA 156) Spacecraft:  Navstar SVN 54 / GPS 2R-7 Chronologies: 2001 payload #5 ; 2001-004A ; 5933rd spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: 50th Navstar (7th second-generation replacement) Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense Source: A. Parsch Launch: 30 January 2001 at 7h55 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-17A, by a Delta 7925. Orbit: 20,104 km x 20,266 km x 55.0° x 11 hr 58 min Mission: Navstar 50 is an American GPS navigational spacecraft which is the 28th member of the "second generation" fleet, four of which (including the latest) being replacements for the older models. In GPS parlance, the two-tonne spacecraft is GPS 2-28. The Global Positioning System satellites provide navigation signals using on-board atomic clocks; following Block I, II and IIA constellations, launches of Block IIR replenishment satellites began in January 1997. The satellite will transmit navigation signals as PRN 18 and was placed in slot E4 of the GPS system. It was built by Lockheed Martin/Sunnyvale. The GPS program is managed by USAF SMC at Los Angeles AFB and the satellites are operated by 2 SOPS (the 2nd Space Operations Squadron of USAF Space Command) at Schriever AFB, Colorado. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 446 ; Spacewarn No. 567 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-004A ;

Milstar DFS 4 (USA 157) Spacecraft:  The second Milstar Block 2 Chronologies: 2001 payload #12 ; 2001-009A ; 5940th spacecraft. Type: Communications Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense Source: A. Parsch Launch: 27 February 2001 at 21h20 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-40, by a Titan-Centaur (Titan 4B-41 (K-30), Centaur TC-22). Orbit: Geostationary Mission: This spacecraft is the first in the Milstar 2 series which is capable of higher data rates and is more secure against disabling efforts. Milstar provides secure communications for the U.S. Department of Defense, with UHF, EHF and SHF band transmitters. The 4.5 tonne spacecraft is built by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space (Sunnyvale). Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 448 ; Spacewarn No. 568 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-009A ;

Intelsat 901 (IS-901) Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2001 payload #29 ; 2001-024A ; 5957th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-service) Sponsor: Intelsat / International Telecommunications Satellite Organization Launch: 9 June 2001 at 6h45 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-2, by an Ariane 44L (V141).  Orbit: Geostationary at 18° West longitude Mission: The first of the Intelsat 9 series, Intelsat 901, provides voice and video services to Europe and the Americas through 44 C-band and 12 Ku-band transponders, C-band beams for the Atlantic region and a Ku-band spot beam for Europe. It is an FS-1300HL, an improved version of the long-standing Space Systems/Loral (originally Aeronutronic Ford) FS-1300 platform. It has a dry mass of 1,972 kg and a launch mass of 4,723 kg. Notes: Beginning with its first satellite, Early Bird, the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO) has so far successfully launched 54 satellites, 19 of which are currently operational. Headquartered in Washington, D.C, INTELSAT is in the process of transferring its satellites to the privatized Intelsat LLC company.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 454 ; Spacewarn No. 572 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-024A ;

Artemis Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2001 payload #35 ; 2001-029A ; 5963rd spacecraft. Type: Technology (communications) Sponsor: ESA / European Space Agency Launch: 12 July 2001 at 21h58 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G (Ariane 510, V142). Orbit: Geostationary at 21,0° East longitude Mission: Artemis is an European communications spacecraft that provides voice and data communications between mobile phones in Europe and North America, and act as a relaying satellite between low-Earth orbiters and ground stations. Eventually, as part of the planned EGNOS system (to be operational by about 2010), it will provide navigation/location determination like the GPS and GLONASS fleet do. The 3,105-kg Artemis is to test out new communications technologies. It carries the Silex laser communications experiment, an S-band inter-orbit link, a Ka-band data relay package, a large L-band antenna for mobile services, and an L-band navigation package.      Problems with the propulsion system in the final stage resulted in the spacecraft ending up in a much lower orbit. It however carries two engines and adequate fuel that if ignited could elevate the orbit significantly, probably to the geosynchronous altitude. The satellite reached its geostationary position on 5 February 2003, after a year of ion engine burns to raise its orbit. Notes: Arianespace's Ariane 510 vehicle failed to reach its correct orbit. The EAP solid boosters and EPC liquid hydrogen fuelled main stage worked as planned and put the EPS upper stage in a marginal orbit. The EPS stage then fired to increase velocity, but not by enough: instead of reaching an 858 x 35,853 km orbit, only a 592 x 17,528 km orbit was reached. The Aestus engine failed to reach full thrust and cut off 1 minute early.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 456, 494 ; Spacewarn No. 573 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-029A ;Spaceflight Now’s 2013 Stories ;

DSP 21 (USA 159) Spacecraft:  DSP F21 / DSP Flight 21 ; Defense Support Program Chronologies: 2001 payload #40 ; 2001-033A ; 5968th spacecraft. Type: Missile early warning Families: 21st DSP (8th Phase 3) Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defence Source: A. Parsch Launch: 6 August 2001 at 7h28 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-40, by a Titan 4B/IUS.  Orbit: Geostationary Mission: DSP Flight 21 is a new US Air Force Defense Support Program infrared missile early warning satellite which is built by TRW. The 2,386-kg, 1.485-kW, 10-meter long and 6.7-meter diameter spacecraft carries an array of 6,000 heat-sensing detectors to monitor and locate missile launches. It will also enable monitoring of surface nuclear explosions and forest fires. It is the 21st member of the DSP fleet, with many of its members still operational. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 458 ; Spacewarn No. 574 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-033A ;DSP, A Pictorial ;

Genesis Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2001 payload #41 ; 2001-034A ; 5969th spacecraft. Type: Space probe Families: Planetary probes ; failure ; Discovery-5 mission ; Ranks: Sponsor: NASA Launch: 8 August 2001 at 16h13 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-17A, by a Delta 7326. Orbit: Near Earth-Sun L1 point with a nominal apogee of around 1.2 million km. Mission: Genesis is an American solar research spacecraft that seeks to discover the origin & genesis of th Solar system. It is among NASA's Discovery Program. The spacecraft was directly injected into the Langrangian-1 (L-1) region (located at about 1.5 million km in the sunward direction) where it collects solar wind samples from October 2001 to April 2004. The 633-kg, 2.3-meter diameter and 7.9-meter length spacecraft carries four instruments in a returnable capsule of 1.5-meter diameter and 1.3-meter length: a wide angle ion collector, a concentrated-ion collector, an ion spectrometer and an electron spectrometer. Genesis will fly to the Earth-Sun L1 point and spend two years collecting samples of the solar wind. A follow on to such experiments as the solar wind collectors exposed on the Moon by Apollo astronauts, Genesis will allow scientists to determine the chemical and isotopic composition of the Sun. The collected samples will be physically returned to Earth (landing in Utah) and analysed in ground-based laboratories. The spacecraft and sample return capsule were built by Lockheed Martin Astronautics; mass is 494 kg dry (includin the 220 kg return capsule), 636 kg at launch. The craft is 1.3-m high with a 1.52-m diameter capsule, and has a 6.8-m span when deployed. The vehicle will enter a 6-month-period halo orbit around L1 with a radius of 800 000 km when it arrives on station. The craft carries a pure hydrazine propulsion system, and a sample return capsule with deployable sample collection plates and an ion concentrator that rejects protons (80 percent of the solar wind) in favour of the trace elements it is trying to study.      On 8 September 2004, the Genesis space probe became the first artifact to return from beyond lunar orbit to the Earth's surface. The Genesis Sample Return Capsule (SRC) separated from the Genesis spacecraft on 8 September at around 11h53 UTC, 66,000 km above the Earth. At 15h55 UTC, the SRC entered the atmosphere over Oregon at about 11 km/s (Earth-relative), its heat shield protected it through atmospheric entry. A mortar which was intended to release the drogue parachute at 33 km high failed to fire and at 15h58 UTC and the tumbling SRC impacted the Dugway Proving Ground at the Utah Test and Training Range. Impact velocity was around 40 to 90 m/s, than enough to wreck the vehicle. The capsule is embedded in the desert floor and is split open (photo). Iit is not yet clear to what extent the solar wind samples have been ruined. Notes: Launch was by a Boeing Delta 7326 vehicle, a Delta II variant with three strap-on motors and a lightweight Star 37 third stage.  After the Genesis capsule slammed into Earth, the Genesis bus was left on a deep Earth orbit. It reached apogee  at 1.28 million km on 7 October 2004, and fell back in to a 60,670 km perigee on 6 November 2004 when its orbit was tweaked to ensure departure from the Earth-Moon system on 17 November. In early 2005, it was on a 0.896 AU x 0.990 AU orbit around the Sun inclined at 0.28°. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 458, 534 & 543 ; Spacewarn No. 574 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-034A ; NASA's 2010-2014 NASA News Releases ;

Intelsat 902 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2001 payload #48 ; 2001-039A ; 5976th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-service) Sponsor: Intelsat / International Telecommunications Satellite Organization Launch: 30 August 2001 at 6h46 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-2, by an Ariane 44L (V143).  Orbit: Geostationary over Indian Ocean Mission: Intelsat 902 provides telecommunications and television broadcast to Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, the Far East and Australia through its 44 C- and 12 Ku-band transponders. The Loral FS-1300 satellite has a dry mass of 1,978 kg and carries a further 2,745 kg of propellant at launch. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 460 ; Spacewarn No. 574 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-039A ;

PROBA Spacecraft:  PRoject for On-Board Autonomy 1 Chronologies: 2001 payload #70 ; 2001-049B ; 5998th spacecraft. Type: Technology Sponsor: Belgium Launch: 22 October 2001 at 4h53 UTC, from Sriharikota High Altitude Range, by a PSLV (PSLC-C3). Orbit: 553 km x 676 km x 97.8° x 97 min (sun-synchronous) Mission: PROBA 1 is a Belgian minisatellite that carries a radiation detector, a debris impact monitoring instrument and a remote sensing camera for performance assessment. It carries an IR spectrometer, debris impact detectors and Earth imaging cameras as well as an experimental spacecraft processor and spacecraft autonomy experiments. The 94-kg satellite was built by Verheart in Belgium using the MiniSIL bus developed by SI of England, and is being controlled from Belgium. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 466 ; Spacewarn No. 576 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-049B ;

Maroc-Tubsat Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2001 payload #84 ; 2001-056D ; 6012th spacecraft. Type: Technology (Earth remote sensing) Sponsor: Maroc's Centre Royal de Télédétection Spatiale Source: TUBSAT Launch: 10 December 2001 at 17h19 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-45, by a J-1/Zenit-2. Orbit: 986 km x 1,014 km x 99.7° x 105 min Mission: Maroc-Tubsat is a Moroccan microsatellite that is to test a three-dimensional attitude control system that will be incorporated in a future remote sensing mission. It was built by the Technical University of Berlin for the Centre Royal de Télédetection Spatiale, Morocco, and has a mass of 45 kg. It carries an imager and a store-forward communications test. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 469 ; Spacewarn No. 578 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-056D ; TUBSAT satellites ;

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Kosmos 2383 Spacecraft:  US-PM s/n 11 Chronologies: 2001 payload #87 ; 2001-057A ; 6015th spacecraft. Type: Electronic/signal intelligence Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 21 December 2001 at 4h00 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome LC-90, by a F-1/Tsiklon-2 (11K69). Orbit: 404 km x 415 km x 65.0° x 92.8 min Decayed: 20 March 2004. Mission: Kosmos 2383 is a Russian naval electronic intelligence satellite built by KB Arsenal. In late February 2004, it was destroyed in orbit, the debris being in low orbit, they reentered quickly. (Such detonations are common for this class of Russian military satellite.) Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 470 & 522 ; ; Spacewarn No. 578 & 605 : National Space Science Data Center's 2001-057A ;

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Kosmos 2384 Spacecraft:  Strela-3 Chronologies: 2001 payload #88 ; 2001-058A ; 6016th spacecraft. Type: Communications Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 28 December 2001 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32 , by a F-2/Tsiklon-3 (11K68). Orbit: 1,415 km x 1,447 km x 82,5° x 114 min Mission: Kosmos 2384 is one of the three small communications relay satellites part of the Russian Defense ministry's Strela-3 program, It's a replacement launch for a failure almost exactly a year earlier. The satellite is built by the NPO PM company. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 470 ; Spacewarn No. 578 & 579 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-058A ;

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Kosmos 2385 Spacecraft:  Strela-3 Chronologies: 2001 payload #89 ; 2001-058B ; 6017th spacecraft. Type: Communications Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 28 December 2001 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32 , by a F-2/Tsiklon-3 (11K68). Orbit: 1,415 km x 1,447 km x 82,5° x 114 min Mission: Kosmos 2385 is one of the three small communications relay satellites part of the Russian Defense ministry's Strela-3 program, It's a replacement launch for a failure almost exactly a year earlier. The satellite is built by the NPO PM company. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 470 ; Spacewarn No. 578 & 579 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-058B ;

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Kosmos 2386 Spacecraft:  Strela-3 Chronologies: 2001 payload #90 ; 2001-058C ; 6018th spacecraft. Type: Communications Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 28 December 2001 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32 , by a F-2/Tsiklon-3 (11K68). Orbit: 1,415 km x 1,447 km x 82,5° x 114 min Mission: Kosmos 2386 is one of the three small communications relay satellites part of the Russian Defense ministry's Strela-3 program, It's a replacement launch for a failure almost exactly a year earlier. The satellite is built by the NPO PM company. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 470 ; Spacewarn No. 578 & 579 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-058C ;

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Gonets D1 #10 Spacecraft: Chronologies: 2001 payload #91 ; 2001-058D ; 6019th spacecraft. Type: Communications (relay) Sponsor: Rosaviakosmos / Russian Space Agency Launch: 28 December 2001 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32 , by a F-2/Tsiklon-3 (11K68). Orbit: 1,415 km x 1,447 km x 82,5° x 114 min Mission: Gonets D1-10 is one of the three small communications relay satellites part of the Rosaviakosmos Gonets-D1s, the civilan variant of the the Russian Defense ministry's Strela-3 program, It's a replacement launch for a failure almost exactly a year earlier. The satellite is built by the NPO PM company. The Gonets' are to locate and report natural and man-made environmental disasters around the world and to relay messages from/to mobile telephones. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 470 ; Spacewarn No. 578 & 579 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-058D ;

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Gonets D1 #11 Spacecraft: Chronologies: 2001 payload #92 ; 2001-058E ; 6020th spacecraft. Type: Communications (relay) Sponsor: Rosaviakosmos / Russian Space Agency Launch: 28 December 2001 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32 , by a F-2/Tsiklon-3 (11K68). Orbit: 1,415 km x 1,447 km x 82,5° x 114 min Mission: Gonets D1-11 is one of the three small communications relay satellites part of the Rosaviakosmos Gonets-D1s, the civilan variant of the the Russian Defense ministry's Strela-3 program, It's a replacement launch for a failure almost exactly a year earlier. The satellite is built by the NPO PM company. The Gonets' are to locate and report natural and man-made environmental disasters around the world and to relay messages from/to mobile telephones. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 470 ; Spacewarn No. 578 & 579 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-058E ;

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Gonets D1 #12 Spacecraft: Chronologies: 2001 payload #93 ; 2001-058F ; 6021st spacecraft. Type: Communications (relay) Sponsor: Rosaviakosmos / Russian Space Agency Launch: 28 December 2001 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32 , by a F-2/Tsiklon-3 (11K68). Orbit: 1,415 km x 1,447 km x 82,5° x 114 min Mission: Gonets D1-12 is one of the three small communications relay satellites part of the Rosaviakosmos Gonets-D1s, the civilan variant of the the Russian Defense ministry's Strela-3 program, It's a replacement launch for a failure almost exactly a year earlier. The satellite is built by the NPO PM company. The Gonets' are to locate and report natural and man-made environmental disasters around the world and to relay messages from/to mobile telephones. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 470 ; Spacewarn No. 578 & 579 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2001-058F ;