Telstar 14 / Estrela do Sul 1     Spacecraft:  Note: some reports spell the satellite name as "Estrela du Sol". Chronologies: 2004 payload #1 ; 2004-001A ; 6221st spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 510th Commercial spacecraft ; 717th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Loral Skynet do Brazil     Launch: 11 January 2004 at 4h13 UTC, from Odyssey Launch Platform, by a Zenith 3SL. Orbit: Geostarionary at 63° West longitude Mission: Estrela do Sul (Telstar 14) is a Brazilian communications that carries 41 Ku-band transponders. 50% of the satellite's power will be focused on coverage over Brazil, providing a dedicated Ku-band solution for the Brazilian marketplace. The other beams will cover the Americas and the North Atlantic Ocean, where Connexion by Boeing will use the satellite to provide its Internet-to-aircraft service. The 4694-kg Loral LS-1300 spacecraft is designed for a 15-year lifespan.  Reports indicate there have been problems deploying one of the solar panels. Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 satellite launch (Sea Launch Photos) Launch: Launch was carried by Sea Launch, from the floating Odyssey Launch Platform floating at 154° West longitude on the equatorial Pacific Ocean, near the Christmas Island. The launch was performed by the twelfth two-stage Zenith-2SL carrying a DM-SL. It was the 243rd successful flight of a DM(D)-type upper stages. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 518 ; Spacewarn No. 603 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-001A ; Energiya RSC's News : Sea Launch's News ; Loral's News ;

Progress M1-11 / ISS 13P     Spacecraft:  Progress M1 (7K-TGM) no. 260 Chronologies: 2004 payload #2 ; 2004-002A ; 6222nd spacecraft. Type: Cargo delivery to the International Space Station Families: 103rd Progress (13th toward ISS) Ranks: 3419th Russian spacecraft (1046th civilian) : Sponsor: Russia Space Agency     Launch: 29 January 2004 at 11h58 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-1, by an A-2/Soyuz-U. Orbit: Initial: 191.1 km x 262.4 km x 51.65° x 88.73 min  Docked on ISS: 364.9 km x 390.7 km x 51.65° x 91.8 min Decayed: 3 June 2004 Progress M1-11 processing (Source: RSC Energiya) Mission: Progress M1-11 carries about 2.4 tonnes of the cargoes, including propellant to satisfy the station needs, potable water, oxygen and food products, crew life support systems, equipment for resupply and maintenance of the station onboard systems. The vehicle also delivers to the station scientific instruments and equipment to conduct the European Space Agency (ESA) program-specific activities and work under the Dutch and Japanese projects, as well as support the future mission program of ESA astronaut André Kuipers, which is to be implemented during the Russian Expedition 6 to the ISS slated to begin next April. It also carries two new Orlan spacesuits (serials M-25 and M-26), a replacement flexhose for the Destiny lab window (culprit in last month's air leak) and equipment to be installed on Zvezda to support docking by the new European ATV cargo ship Jules Verne. The cargo vehicle docked to the Service Module Zvezda axial port on 31 January 2004 at 13h13 UTC. The cargoship was evacuated from the Station on 24 May 2004, carrying all the trash from the ISS, and was destined for a controlled burn on 3 June.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 520 ; Spacewarn No. 603 & 607 & 608 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-002A ; RSC Energiya's News of 29 Jan 04 & 31 Jan 04 ;

AMC-10 / Americom 10 (GE-10) Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #3 ; 2004-003A ; 6223rd spacecraft. Type: Communications (DBS) Families: Ranks: 511th Commercial spacecraft ; 718th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: SES Americom Launch: 5 February 2004 at 23h46 UTC, from Cape Canaveral's SLC-36A, by an Atlas IIAS (AC-165). Orbit: Geostationary at 135° West longitude Source : Lockheed Martin Mission: AMC 10 is a 1.8-tonne satellite which provides high-definition digital video channels to North America through its 24 C-band, and several direct-to-home Ku-band transponders. It replaces the current GE Satcom C 4. The satellite is a Lockheed A2100 with a launch mass of 2,315 kg and 907 kg dry.  Launch: The AC-165 launch rocket was the 27th flown in the Atlas IIAS configuration; three more Atlas IIAS vehicles are scheduled to launch this year before the model is retired. The Atlas IIAS can lift 3,700 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The Atlas II, III and V series have achieved 100% success through 69 consecutive launches. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 520 ; Spacewarn No. 604 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-003A ; SES Americom's AMC-10 & AMC-11 ; ILS News ; Lockheed Martin News ;

DSP 22 (USA 176) Spacecraft:  Defense Support Program Chronologies: 2004 payload #4 ; 2004-004A ; 6224th spacecraft. Type: Missile easly warning Families: 22nd DSP (9th Phase 3) Ranks: 1685th American spacecraft (1097th military) ;:719th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense Source : Skyrocket Launch: 14 February 2004 at 18h50 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base's SLC-40, by a Titan 4B/IUS (Titan 4B-39, IUS-10). Orbit: Geostationary Mission: This DSP Block-3 satellite is a third-generation of DSP early warning satellites that spin slowly (6 rpm) about the nadir axis to permit scanning of the Earth by the detector system. Four solar panels deploy to generate roughly 1,300 Watts. The DSP spacecrafts are radiation hardened. The payload is classified, but is probably a telescope with 6000 element IR array, nuclear explosion detectors, particle detection monitors. A DPS Block-3 weights 2,386 kg and costs about $180 millions. These Air Force Space Command-operated satellites are a key part of North America's early warning systems. In their geosynchronous orbits, they help protect the United States and its allies by detecting missile launches, space launches and nuclear detonations. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 521 ; Spacewarn No. 604 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-004A ; Skyrocket's DSP Phase 3 ; Air Force Factsheet ;

Rosetta Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #6 ; 2004-006A ; 6226th spacecraft. Type: Planetary probe (Comet) Families: Ranks: 238th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: ESA Launch: 2 March 2004 at 7h17 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5 (Ariane 517, V158). Images: ESA Orbit: Heliocentric orbit: 0.885 AU x 1.094 AU x 0.4° Mission: Rosetta is a 3-ton planetary probe, the first ever designed to enter orbit around a comet and release a lander onto its surface. For over a year, the $1.7 billion spacecraft will conduct a thorough study of this remnant of the primitive nebula which gave birth to our Solar System about 5 billion years ago.      The spacecraft is a cubical box (2.8 meters x 2.1 meters x 2.0 meters) with two solar panels of 14 meters x 2.3 meters. It was built by Astrium/Friedrichshafen and carries the lander Philae, the OSIRIS camera, ultraviolet, visible, infrared and microwave spectrographs, neutral and ion mass spectrometers and gas chromatograph, dust detectors and analysers, comet plasma analysers, and the CONSERT radar sounder to study the interior of the nucleus.      Discovered in 1969, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a frozen remnant of the primordial material used to build the Solar System. This minor planet circles the Sun in an elliptical orbit extending nearly 800 million kilometres from the Sun at its apohelion (beyond the orbit of Jupiter) to a point between the orbits of Earth and Mars (perihelion), some 185 million kilometres from the Sun. The comet measures a few kilometres across and rotates every 12.7 hours.      The European Space Agency had originally planned to build a comet sample return mission in partnership with NASA, but the U.S. space agency pulled out because of budget constraints and ESA ultimately decided to launch Rosetta instead, approving the project in 1993.       To reach 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the space probe had to carry out four planetary flybys - an Earth flyby in March 2005, a Mars flyby in February 2007, two more Earth flybys in November 2007 and November 2009 - using the gravity of these planets to accelerate to move out into deep space.       Along the way, it flew past two asteroids - (2867) Steins on 5 September 2008 and (21) Lutetia on 10 July 2010 -, sending back high-resolution pictures and other observations (see at right).       By the summer of 2011, Rosetta was too far from the Sun for its solar arrays to generate enough electricity to power all of its instruments and subsystems.  Flight controllers ordered the probe to put itself into electronic hibernation, shutting down all non-essential systems, including its radio.  For the next two-and-a-half years, Rosetta flew in silence.  Finally, on 20 January 2014, it woke up and phoned home, ready for the final leg of its long space odyssey.       Images of 67P taken by the spacecraft's OSIRIS camera at the end of July/early August 2014 revealed a heavily cratered nucleus with two distinct lobes, showing house-size boulders strewn across relatively smooth plains and towering, sharply etched cliffs150 meters high (see below). Asteroid Steins  Asteroid Lutetia First pictures taken by Rosetta as it arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Comet at 1,950 km. Comet at 1,000 km. Come at 285 km. Comet at 120 km. Comet at 130 km. Credit: ESA's Rosetta photos.      Finally, Rosetta caught up with comet 67P on 6 August 2014, precisely matching its orbit, after a 10-year, 6 billion-kilometer voyage around the Sun. The final maneuver needed for Rosetta to match the comet trajectory, racing through space at some 55,000 km/h, began at 9h00 UT and lasted six minutes and 26 seconds. The probe positioned itself just 100 km ahead of the nucleus to study its surface, the evolution of its coma (the nebulous cloud that envelops a comet as it warms up) and the eventual development of dust and ion tails.  It is studying 67P with a battery of cameras and instruments to map its surface, to study its composition and to characterize the coma.       A major objective of the early observations is to find a good landing site for the Philae lander, a small craft mounted on the side of Rosetta that carries its own suite of cameras and instruments.  If all goes well, Rosetta will release Philae on 11 November 2014, allowing it to slowly descend to the surface, anchoring itself in the crust for the first in situ observations of a comet as it warms up and spews dust and electrically charged ions in tenuous tails of debris.  No one knows how long the lander might survive, but scientists are hoping for several months of close-range observations as the nucleus heats up and spews debris.      If all goes well, Rosetta will fly in tandem with 67P while the comet reaces its perihelion in August 2015, continuing its observations through the end of the year. Launch: Rosetta’s mission began at 7h17 UTC when an Ariane 5 launch vehicle lifted off from the Guiana Space Centre, in Kourou, French Guiana. The Ariane 518G (flight V158) was the first Ariane 5G+, with an improved EPS upper stage. The EPC core stage entered a 45 km x 3,849 km x 5.7° orbit 9 minutes after launch. It completed one orbit and reentered at perigee over the eastern Pacific. The EPS second stage ignited on the descending leg of the orbit at 9h14 and burned for 17 minutes. The launcher successfully placed its upper stage and payload into an eccentric coast orbit (200 x 4,000 km). About two hours later, at 9h14, the upper stage ignited its own engine to reach an escape velocity in order to leave the Earth’s gravity field and enter heliocentric orbit. Rosetta was released 18 minutes later. The probe left the Earth's gravitational sphere of influence early on March 5. Notes: On 14 February 1965, Dr. Fred Whipple, director of the Smithsonian Asirophysical Observatory, Cambridge, had suggested landing on a comet. He speculated that, if a space vehicle were sent near a comet, scientists could use a low-velocity probe that could be put into an orbit in the comet’s vicinity for a week or more to study the velocities of gas and dust particles boiled off the comet by solar radiation. The probe would also be able to take core samples of the comet to give direct measurement of one of the oldest physical processes in the solar system, Dr. Whipple said.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 522, 630 ; Spacewarn No. 605 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-006A ; ESA's Rosetta, PR 14-2004, 20 Jan 14, 18 Jul 14, 1 Aug 14, 1 Aug 14, 5 Aug 14, 6 Aug 14, ; Spaceflight Now's 2014 Stories, 2015 Stories ; Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1965, p. 67 ;

Philae Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #7 ; 2004-006B ; 6227th spacecraft. Type: Comet lander Ramilies: Ranks: 239th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: ESA Launch: 2 March 2004 at 7h17 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5 (Ariane 517, V158). Source: ESA Orbit: Heliocentric orbit: 0.885 AU x 1.094 AU x 0.4° Mission: TOn 12 November 2014, the 85-kg Philae lander was ejected from Rosetta at 8h35 UT, 22 km from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The lander hit the comet’s surface at 15h33 UTC, at the Agilkia landing site, but the harpoons intended to lock it to the surface did not deploy. Philae then bounced off the surface, up to one kilometer, then touchdown again at 17h26 UT and bounced  to finally lands at 17h33 UT. Exact landing site is unknown. The lander is apparently tilted, with one of its three legs off the surface. (Some reports said that the three legs are on the soil.)  Unfortunately, Philae is in the shadow of a cliff and not receiving enough sunlight to recharge its 2.5-day-life batteries. It had transmited a panoramic photo that show mainly a dark region. Science data was received during two days and the lander ceased transmitting at 0h36 UT on 14 November. The mission is considered a success, but not as successful as hope for.  Source: Spacewarn No. 605, 705  ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-006A ; Spaceflight Now's 2014 Stories, 2015 Stories ;

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MBSAT Spacecraft:  Mobile Broadcasting Satellite Chronologies: 2004 payload #8 ; 2004-007A ; 6228th spacecraft. Type: Communications (DBS) Families: Ranks: 512th Commercial spacecraft ; 720th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Japan's MBCO / Mobile Broadcasting Corporation  Launch: 13 March 2004 at 5h40 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-36B, by an Atlas IIIA (AC-202). Source : MBCO Orbit: Geostationary at 144° East longitude. Mission: MBSAT delivers high-quality music, video and data to mobile users in Japan and Korea through a variety of mobile terminals, including those in cars, ships, trains, handheld terminals, personal digital assistants, cellular phones and home portables. It provides about 60 audio channels of various music in genre and other sound programs, about 10 video channels including sports, news, music, kids program and download channels all over Japan. A very small antenna is sufficient to receive these broadcast signals even inside buildings and in vehicles moving at high speeds. The satellite carries two high-power transponders for direct broadcasting services, with one transponder providing coverage for Japan and the other for Korea. Two additional transponders provide links to terrestrial repeater networks, which augment the satellite broadcast signal. The spacecraft is a three-axis attitude stabilized geostationary satellite designed and manufactured by Space Systems/Loral. The MBSAT design is based on the SS/L 1300 bus. MBSAT is a joint venture between Mobile Broadcasting Co. of Tokyo and SK Telecom of Seoul. Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (MBCO) was founded in May 1998 to provide world-first satellite multimedia service by the spring of 2004 in Japan. The service includes audio, video and interactive service for people who stay away from home. (Launch video/photos.) Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 522 ; Spacewarn No. 605 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-007A ; MBSAT ; ILS ;

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Eutelsat W3A Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #9 ; 2004-008A ; 6229th spacecraft. Type: Communications (DBS) Families: Ranks: 240th European spacecraft ; 721st geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Eutelsat Launch: 15 March 2004 at 23h06 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome, by a Proton-M/Briz-M (Proton-M 53503 / Briz-M 88507). Orbit: Geostationary at 7° East longitude. Mission: Eutelsat W3A provides communications for Eutelsat to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The 4.4 tonne satellite carries a total of 58 Ku-band transponders and a few steerable transmission beams to provide direct-to-home voice, data, and video channels to Europe, Middle East and Africa. It replaces the Eutelsat W3 satellite at 7° E longitude. The spacecraft is the first Astrium Eurostar 3000S model, a larger version of the long-running Eurostar series.  Launch: This is the third launch of Proton-M, which has a more powerful first stage and improved systems than the usual Proton-K. (Launch video/photos.) Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 522,524 & 536 ; Spacewarn No. 605 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-008A ;

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Navstar 50 (USA 177) Spacecraft:  Navstar SVN 59 / GPS IIR-11 Chronologies: 2004 payload #10 ; 2004-009A ; 6230th spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: 54th Navstar Ranks: 1686th American spacecraft (1098th military) ; Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense Launch: 20 March 2004 at 17h53 UTC, from Cape Canaveral's SLC-17B, by a Delta II 7925. Orbit: 20,090 km x 20,277 km x 55.1° x 708 min. Mission: Navstar 54, also known as USA 177 and as GPS 2R-11, is an American navigational satellite in the GPS fleet. It takes Slot 3 in Plane C, replacing the aging Navstar 2-19. The fleet consists of 24 operational satellites (plus a few spares) located in six (inertial) planes with four slots in each. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 523 ; Spacewarn No. 605 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-009A ;

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Raduga 1-7 ("Kosmos 2406") Spacecraft:  Globus 17L Chronologies: 2004 payload #11 ; 2004-010A ; 6231st spacecraft. Type: Communications Families: Ranks: 3421sh Russian spacecraft (1048th civilian) : 722nd geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Russia Defense ministry Launch: 27 March 2004 at 3h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's PL-81, by a Proton-K/DM-2?. Orbit: Geostationary at 85.0° East longitude. Mission: The spacecraft was first labelled Kosmos-2406 but later renamed Raduga 1. It is a Globus military communications satellite (the previous Globus was launched in October 2001). Earlier Globus launches were given the Raduga-1 cover name, but it looks like the Russian Defense Ministry may be consolidating all its launches under the Kosmos cover name now (as for last month's Kosmos-2405 launch). Notes: WDC-A and Space Command are reporting the satellite as Kosmos-2407, presumably because the original Russian launch schedule stated the now-delayed Zenit-2 launch would be Kosmos-2406. However, after launch Novosti called the new satellite Kosmos-2406, implying that the Kosmos numbers will continue to be assigned in launch order, and so provisional numbers released before launch may change. This makes sense since the Kosmos numbers are used purely for public consumption, with internal classified military names used in all technical documentation, so changing the Kosmos number at a late date doesn't break anything. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 523, 524, 526 & 528 ; Spacewarn No. 605 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-010A ;

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Superbird 6 / Superbird A2 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #12 ; 2004-011A ; 6232nd spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 513th Commercial spacecraft ; 723rd geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Japan's Space Communications Corp.  Launch: 16 March 2004 at 0h45 UTC, from Cape Canaveral's SLC-36A, by an Atlas IIAS (AC-163). Source: Boeing Orbit: Geostationary at 158° East longitude Mission: Superbird 6 is a 3.2-tonne, 4.4-kW communications satellite that provides high data-rate transmissions for television and internet access to the Asia-Pacific region through its 23 Ku-band, and four Ka-band transponders. It is the fifth operational Superbird, after the current list of Superbird A, -B2, -C, and -D. Superbird 6 satellite, a Boeing BSS-601 model, provide Ka and Ku band communications for Japan's Space Communications Corp. with the operational name of Superbird A2.  Launch: The Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS was placed into a 150 x 396 km parking orbit and then restarted to reach a 167 x 122,343 km x 26.3° highly elliptical orbit.  This high apogee orbit allows the spacecraft to lower its inclination to equatorial with a minimum usage of fuel, and only then lower its orbital height to the 357,80 km geostationary altitude.       According to a report in Space News, the Superbird 6 communications satellite was damaged on a lower than expected first perigee passage. The spacecraft was launched into an orbit with around 200 km perigee, but lunar perturbations - which reportedly had not been taken into account - lowered the perigee to around 100 km during the first orbit. An engine firing raised the perigee to over 1,000 km, and later burns up to 10 May 2004 put the satellite in a near-geosynchronous drift orbit at 35,834 x 35,964 km x 0.1° over the Pacific at 157° East longitude. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 524 & 526 ; Spacewarn No. 606 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-011A ; Boeing Co. ;

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Shiyan 1 (SY 1) / Tansuo 1 (TS 1) Spacecraft:  Tansuo means Experimentsat. Chronologies: 2004 payload #13 ; 2004-012A ; 6233rd spacecraft. Type: Earth remote sensing Families: Ranks: 81st Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: China Launch: 18 April 2004 at 15h59 UTC, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng-2C. Orbit: Initial: 600 km x 615 km x 97.7° x 96.8 min. 599 km x 615 km x 97.7° Mission: Shiyan 1 ('Experiment') is a microsatellite developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology, with a stereo imager to carry out land resource mapping. The 204-kg Tansuo 1satellite provides stereographic maps of land resources in China.  Launch: This was the first polar launch from the low-latitude Xichang launch site; previous Chinese sun-synchronous missions were from Taiyuan. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 524 ; Spacewarn No. 606 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-012A ;

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Naxing 1 Spacecraft:  Naxing is a contraction of Nami Weixing, meaning nanosatellite. Chronologies: 2004 payload #14 ; 2004-012B ; 6234th spacecraft. Type: Technology Families: Ranks: 82nd Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: China Launch: 18 April 2004 at 15h59 UTC, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng-2C. Launch: 599 km x 615 km x 97.7° Mission: Naxing 1 is an experimental spacecraft with mass under 25 kg to test small satellite technology and was developed by the Tsinghua University in Beijing. The satellite performs "some high-tech experiments". Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 524 ; Spacewarn No. 606;National Space Science Data Center's 2004-012B ;

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Soyuz TMA-4 / ISS 8S Spacecraft:  Soyuz 11F732 (7K-STMA) No. 214 Chronologies: 2004 payload #15 ; 2004-013A ; 6235th spacecraft. Type: Piloted spaceship Families: Ranks: 3422th Russian spacecraft (1046th civilian) :  Sponsor: Russian's Federal Space Agency & NASA Launch: 19 April 2004 at 3h19 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-1, by a Soyuz-FG. Source: NASA Orbit: Circular at ~400 km x 51.6°. Recovered: 4 October 2004 Mission: Soyuz TMA-4 is a Russian passenger transport spacecraft that carried three astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS): Expedition 9 crew of Gennadiy Padalka and Michael Fincke, together with the ESA/Netherlands DELTA mission crewmember André Kuipers. The Dutch astronaut returned to Earth with the Expedition 8 crew of Michael Foale and Aleksandr Kaleri on Soyuz TMA-3, leaving Expedition 9 in charge of the station. Soyuz TMA-4 docked with the nadir port on Zarya on 21 April 2004 at 5h01 UTC.      On 23 October 2004, the Soyuz TMA-4, with Expedition 9 crew and VE-7's Shargin undocked at 21h08 UTC from ISS and made a small separation burn at 21h11 UTC. At 23h42 UTC, the deorbit burn lowered the orbit from 353 km x 366 km to -23 km  x 355 km, and the descent module separated at 0h08 UTC on 24 October 2004, with landing at 50.47° Norht and 67.12° East  near Arkalyk at 0h36 UTC. Note: Russia has split the Rosaviakosmos agency into separate aviation and space parts; the new Russian space agency is the Federal Space Agency ("Federal'noe kosmicheskoye agentstvo"). Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 524 & 537 ; Spacewarn No. 606 & 612 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-013A ;

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Gravity Probe B Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #16 ; 2004-014A ; 6236th spacecraft. Type: Science (fundamental physics) Families: Ranks: 1687th American spacecraft (589th civilian) ; Sponsor: NASA Launch: 20 April 2004 at 16h57 UTC, from Vandenberg Air Force Base's SLC-2W, by a Delta 7920. Orbit: 641 km x 645 km x 90.01° x 97.6 min. Mission: Gravity Probe-B aim is to verify a derivative consequence of the General Relativistic Gravitation (GRG) theory, according to which a spinning body such as the Earth makes the space-time around it to rotate around, though extremely slowly. The satellite carries a telescope, embedded with four 4-cm quartz spheres that spin at a rate of 10,000 rpm as freely suspended gyroscopes. The prediction is that the orientation of the spin axes will move by 42 milliseconds-of-arc during a year of orbiting. The reference point is a bright star named HR 8703, also known as IM Pegasus, in the Pegasus constellation that will remain sighted by the telescope.       NASA's Gravity Probe B satellite was finally launched after 40 years of development. The 3,145 kg spacecraft carries 4 gyroscopes kept at 1.8 Kelvin by a liquid helium dewar, laser retroreflectors and 2 GPS receivers for orbit determination, a drag compensation system, and a 14 cm aperture quartz telescope. The challenging physics experiment, developed by Stanford University together with Lockheed Martin, will observe the 5th magnitude star IM Peg for over a year, attempting to measure the tiny shifts in the gyroscopes' orientation caused by the Lense-Thirring gravitomagnetic (or `frame-dragging') effect predicted by general relativity. The frame-dragging caused by the Earth's rotation will make the orbital plane rotate by 40.9 millarcseconds per year. GP-B's polar orbital inclination of 90.01 degrees was chosen to minimize the orbital plane rotation due to the Newtonian effect of the Earth's polar flattening, which is proportional to the cosine of the inclination. GP-B will also make an accurate measurement of the well-established gravitostatic warping of spacetime due to the Earth's mass, which is a much larger effect of 6.6 arcseconds per year in a perpendicular (in-plane) direction.  Note: Gravity Probe A was a NASA suborbital (Apogee: 10,230 km) probe that was launched onboard a Scout D-1 (S193C) on 18 June 1976. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 524 ; Spacewarn No. 606 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-014A ;

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Ekspress AM-11 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #17 ; 2004-015A ; 6237th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 3423th Russian spacecraft (1050th civilian) : 724th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Russia Launch: 26 April 2004 at 20h37 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-200/39, by a Proton-K/DM-01 (Proton-K serial 410-08, Blok DM 11S861-01 serial 14L). Orbit: Geostarionary Mission: Express AM-11 carries many transponders to provide digital television, telephone and broadband internet links to Russia and its neighbors, Southeast Asia, and Australia. It has a launch mass of 2,542 kg; built by NPO PM, it has a payload from the French company Alcatel with Ku and C band communications transponders. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 525 ; Spacewarn No. 606 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-015A ;

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DirecTV-7S Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #18 ; 2004-016A ; 6238th spacecraft. Type: Communications (DBS) Families: Ranks: 514th Commercial spacecraft ; 725th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: DirecTV Launch: 4 May 2004 at 12h42 UTC, from Odyssey Launch Platform, by a Zenit-3SL. Orbit: Geostionary at 119° West longitude. Mission: DirecTV 7S is a 13-kW communications satellite tha provides direct-to-home television service to American homes through its 54 transponders and 27 spot-beams or, in another mode, through its 44 transponders and 30 spot-beams. It is the second spot-beam satellite in the DirecTV fleet, after DirecTV 4S launched in 2001. The spacecraft is a 5483-kg Loral-1300 communications satellite. Launch: DirecTV 7S was launched from the floating platform Odyssey moored at 154° W in the equatorial Pacific ocean. It was placed in equatorial geostationary transfer orbit with a single direct-ascent burn of the Zenit-3SL's Blok DM-SL third stage. Usually the Zenit-3SL enters parking orbit and makes a second burn to GTO, but the large mass of DirectTV-7S required the direct-ascent approach. The Zenit-3SL rocket has two lower stages made by the Ukrainian Yuzhnoe company and the upper DM-SL stage made by Energiya, and is launched from a floating platform on the equator. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 525 ; Spacewarn No. 607 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-016A ;

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AMC-11 / Americom 11 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #19 ; 2004-017A ; 6239th spacecraft. Type: Communications (DBS) Families: Ranks: 515th Commercial spacecraft ; 726th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: SES Americom Launch: 19 May 2004 at 22h22 UTC, from Cape Canaveral's SLC-36B, by an Atlas IIAS (AC-166). Orbit: Geostationary at 131° West longitude Mission: AMC 11, also known as GE 11 or Americom 11, is a 1.8-tonne communications satellite that enables dozens of television networks in America to provide HD videos through its 23 C-band transponders. It replaces Satcom C3 and is a Lockheed Martin A2100 series model. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 526 ; Spacewarn No. 607 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-017A ;

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ROCSAT-2 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #20 ; 2004-018A ; 6240th spacecraft. Type: Earth remote sensing Families: Ranks: Sponsor: Taiwan's National Space Program Office Launch: 20 May 2004 at 17h47 UTC, from Vandenberg Air Force Base's 576-E, by a Taurus XI (7). Orbit: Initial: 764 km x 767 km x 99.1° x 100.1 min 720 km x 742 km x 99.1°.  Mission: ROCSAT-2 is a remote sensing satellite for Taiwan's National Space Program Office.  The 750-kg satellite carries imaging instruments to take pictures of crop yields in Taiwan, natural disasters and oil spills on land and ocean, and to image high altitude red lightning strokes called sprites. The satellite was built by Astrium (Toulouse) and uses the Leostar 500XO bus. It has a 0.60-meter diameter telescope with a 2-meter resolution black-and-white imager and an 8-meter resolution color imager as well as a detector to study lightning 'sprites'. Launch: This Taurus flight 7 was the first Taurus XL model. The Taurus 3210 model has a Castor 120 solid motor lower stage, and the three motors from the Pegasus XL - Orion 50SXL, Orion 50XL and Orion 38 - as upper stages. The Orion 50XL stage burnt out in a -2836 x 714 km x 99° suborbital trajectory four minutes after launch; the final stage and payload coasted to apogee, and at 11 minute after launch the Orion 38 motor fired to put ROCSAT-2 in a 720 x 742 km x 99.1°. The satellite will use its onboard propulsion system (with about 50 kg of hydrazine) to raise its orbit to around 890 km. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 526 ; Spacewarn No. 607 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-018A ;

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Progress M-49 / ISS 14P Spacecraft:  Progress M (7K-TGM) No. 249 Chronologies: 2004 payload #21 ; 2004-019A ; 6241st spacecraft. Type: Cargo delivery to the International Space Station Families: Ranks: 3424th Russian spacecraft (1051st civilian) : Sponsor: Russian's Federal Space Agency Launch: 25 May 2004 at 12h34 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-1, by a Soyuz-U. Source: NASA Progress M-49 arrival (and depart) from ISS, photos taken by Expedition 9 crew. (Photo: NASA) Orbit: Initial: 236 km x 246 km x 51.6° x 89.3 min. Circular at ~400 km x 51.6°  Dacayed: 30 July 2004. Mission: Progress-M 49 is a Russian cargo carrier that carries 2.5 tonnes of supplies (including spacesuit Orlan-M No. 27), water, food and fuel to the International Space Station (ISS). It docked automatically with the Zvezda module of the ISS on 27 May 2004 at 13:55 UTC. The Progress M-49 cargo ship undocked on 30 July 2004 at 6h05 UTC and carried out a deorbit burn at 10h39 UTC, leading to reentry over the Pacific starting at 11h14 UTC. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 527 & 532 ; Spacewarn No. 607 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-019A ;

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Kosmos 2405 Spacecraft:  US-PU Chronologies: 2004 payload #22 ; 2004-020A ; 6242nd spacecraft. Type: Electronic intelligence Families: Ranks: 3425th Russian spacecraft (2373rd military) : Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 28 May 2004 at 6h00 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-90/20, by a Tsiklon-2. Orbit: 405 km x 416 km x 65° x 92,8 min. Mission: Kosmos-2407 is a US-PU electronic intelligence satellite for the Russian Navy. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 527 & 528 ; Spacewarn No. 607 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-020A ;

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Kosmos 2406 Spacecraft:  Tselina-2 Chronologies: 2004 payload #23 ; 2004-021A ; 6243rd spacecraft. Type: Electronic intelligence Families: Ranks: 3426th Russian spacecraft (2375th military) : Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 10 June 2004 at 1h28 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-45, by a Zenit-2. Orbit: Initial: 847 km x 865 km x 71° x 102.1 min. 846 km x 865 km x 71.0° Mission: A Tselina-2 electronic intelligence satellite for the Russian Defense ministry. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 528 ; Spacewarn No. 608 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-021A ;

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Intelsat 10-02 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #24 ; 2004-022A ; 6244th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 516th Commercial spacecraft ; 727th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Intelsat Launch: 16 June 2004 at 22h27 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-200/39, by a Proton-M/Briz-Ml (Proton-M 53506 / Briz-M 88509). Source: Astrium Orbit: Geostationary at 359° East (1° West longitude) Mission: Intelsat 10-02 is a 3-tonne communications spacecraft in the (recently privatized) Intelsat fleet that provides digital broadcasting, telephone and broadband internet access to users in Europe, Africa and the Middle East and, additionally, as far east as Asia (India) and as far west as South and North America, through its 36 Ku-band and 70 C-band transponders. Built by EADS Astrium, it is the second Eurostar E3000 model to be launched and is the largest Eurostar satellite built to date as well as the largest and most powerful satellite ever ordered by Intelsat. With a launch mass of 5,575 kg and a wingspan of 45-meter once deployed in orbit, it is also one of the largest communications satellite ever built. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 528 & 536 ; Spacewarn No. 608 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-022A ; Astrium ;

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Navstar 51 (USA 178) Spacecraft:  Navstar SVN 60 / GPS 2R-12 Chronologies: 2004 payload #25 ; 2004-023A ; 6245th spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: 55th Navstar Ranks: 1688th American spacecraft (1099th military) ; Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense Launch: 23 June 2004 at 22h54 UTC, from Cape Canaveral's SLC-17B, by a Delta 7925. Orbit: Initial: 145 km x 20,368 km x 39° x 355.8 min. Mission: Navstar 55 is a 2.1-tonne American navigational satellite in the GPS fleet that  replaces the aging Navstar 2A-07 that was launched in1992 into Slot 4 in Plane F. (The old Navstar will, however, be repositioned in the same Plane as a backup, until its failure.) Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 529 ; Spacewarn No. 608 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-023A ;

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Telstar 18 / Apstar 5 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #26 ; 2004-024A ; 6246th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 517th Commercial spacecraft ; 728th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Loral Skynet & APT Satellite Inc. Launch: 29 June 2004 at 3h59 UTC, from Odyssey Launch Platform, by a Zenit-3SL. Orbit: Geostarionary at 138° East longitude Mission: Telstar 18/Apstar 5 provides Ku-band voice, video and data services to China, Hawaii and East Asia, and C-band services to other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia and Hawaii. The satellite is also used to provide space-based Internet backbone services for the main cities of Asia to and from the U.S. through Hawaii. Part of the spacecraft payload is operated by Loral Skynet, which calls the satellite Telstar 18. Another part of the payload is operated by APT Satellite Inc., of Hong Kong,, which calls it Apstar 5. (In consideration for funding a portion of the satellite project’s cost, APT initially acquires use of 68.5% of Telstar 18’s capacity for Apstar V services. The number of transponders used by APT will be reduced over time, ultimately to 54% of the satellite’s capacity.) The spacecraft replace the aging Apstar 1 satellite at its geostationary orbital. It is a high-powered C/Ku-band hybrid satellite based on Space Systems/Loral's LS-1300 platform. It will have total beginning-of-life power of 10.6 kW with a separated mass of approximately 4,845 kg, and 9.5 kW of end-of-life power. Built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) and operated by Loral Skynet (both subsidiaries of Loral Space & Communications), Telstar 18 carries a total of 54 active transponders, 16 high-power Ku-band transponders and 38 C-band transponders. Launch: Boeing Sea Launch Zenit-3SL's second burn, intended to reach a 756 x 35929 km orbit, shut down 54 seconds early, and the satellite only reached a 722 km x 21,618 km x 0.05° transfer orbit. "According to Sea Launch, the spacecraft separated from the rocket’s upper stage prematurely and was placed into a lower than expected transfer orbit, reports Loral Skynet. However, current data indicates the satellite has sufficient on-board fuel to bring it to its final orbital position and exceed its 13-year specified life." Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 608 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-024A ; Loral Skynet : APSTAR :

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Demeter Spacecraft:  Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions Chronologies: 2004 payload #27 ; 2004-025C ; 6247th spacecraft. Type: Earth sciences Families: Ranks: 241st European spacecraft ; Sponsor: France's CNES Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Source: CNES Orbit: 696 km x 722 km x 98.3° Mission: DEMATER is a French minisatellite (125 kg) that monitors the electromagnetic activity in the ionosphere during and after earthquakes. The scientific satellite measures electrical effects generated by seismic events, it studies the ionospheric disturbances related to seismic activity, the ionospheric disturbances related to human activity, the pre- and post-seismic effects in the ionosphere that contribute to understand the mechanisms generating those disturbances, and give global information on the Earth's electromagnetic environment at the satellite altitude. This 100-kg spacecraft is the first project in the Centre National d'Études Spatiales' microsatellite series. Launch: The Dnepr upper stage releases eight payloads while still firing — successively Demeter, Saudisat-2, SaudiComsat-1, Latinsat-C, SaudiComsat-2, Unisat-3, Amsat-Echo and Latinsat-D — and so they ended up in orbits with 698 km perigees and apogees increasing in order of separation time. At left, the Dnepr launch and, at right, the 8-satellite payload. (Photos: AMSAT). According to Spacewarn, Celestis 04/SL-24 (2004-25B) is just a monitor that was attached to the final stage of the Dnieper booster to log the performance of that stage. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025C ; CNES :

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SaudiSat-2 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #28 ; 2004-025F ; 6248th spacecraft. Type: Earth remote sensing Families: Ranks: Sponsor: Saudi Arabia's KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology) Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Orbit: 699 km x 734 km x 98.3° Mission: Saudisat 2 is a Saudi Arabian scientific satellite. The 30-kg spacecraft is designed to perform some experimental technologies that includes taking images with resolution better than 15 meter for remote sensing. The orbit is sun synchronized at 700 km. The Saudi Laser Station, part of the Space Research Institute, is going to track the satellite with high accuracy of 3 to 1,000 meters. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025F ; KACST :

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SaudiComsat-1 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #29 ; 2004-025D ; 6249th spacecraft. Type: Communications (data relay) Families: Ranks: 518th Commercial spacecraft ;  Sponsor: Saudi Arabia's KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology) Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Orbit: 699 km x 749 km x 98.3° Mission: SaudiComsat 1 is an experimental communications satellite. Together with SaudiComsat 2, it is the first generation of low-orbit micro-communication satellites (12 kg each) for commercial use (store and forward messagery). They are among 24 satellites planed to be launched in the future with different orbits to cover large parts of the world. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025D ; KACST :

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LatinSat C / Aprizesat-1 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #30 ; 2004-025G ; 6250th spacecraft. Type: Communications (data relay) Families: Ranks: 519th Commercial spacecraft ;  Sponsor: SpaceQuest/Aprize Argentina Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Orbit: 699 km x 765 km x 98.3° Source: Aprizesat Mission: Aprize Satellite Inc. is developing a low-cost wireless network that will provide asset tracking and data-monitoring services worldwide. These Aprizesat satellites will allow the company to evaluate the operational performance and end-to-end reliability of the Aprize monitoring device and customer data distribution system for U.S. applications. Aprize plans to deploy a constellation of up to 24 satellites to provide low-cost data tracking and monitoring services worldwide. The cost of the Aprize satellites is approximately one-tenth of what it would cost other satellite companies to deploy a similar system. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025G ; Aprizesat :

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SaudiComsat-2 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #31 ; 2004-025E ; 6251st spacecraft. Type: Communications (data relay) Families: Ranks: 520th Commercial spacecraft ;  Sponsor: Saudi Arabia's KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology) Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Orbit: 698 km x 782 km x 98.3° Mission: SaudiComsat 2 is an experimental communications satellite. Together with SaudiComsat 1, it is the first generation of low-orbit micro-communication satellites (12 kg each) for commercial use (for store and forward messagery). Those satellite are among 24 satellites planed to be launched in the future with different orbits to cover large parts of the world. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025E ; KACST :

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Unisat-3 Spacecraft: Chronologies: 2004 payload #32 ; 2004-025H ; 6252nd spacecraft. Type: Technology Families: Ranks: 94th amateurs/students spacecraft :  Sponsor: Italy Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Source: AMSAT Orbit: 698 km x 799 km x 98.3° Mission: Unisat 3 is an Italian scientific satellite built by students of La Sapienza University of Rome, which tests solar cells in the space environment. It has a launch mass of 12 kg. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025H ;

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AMSAT-Echo / OSCAR 51 (AO-51) Spacecraft: Amsat-Oscar E Chronologies: 2004 payload #33 ; 2004-025K ; 6253rd spacecraft. Type: Communications (radio-amateur) Families: Ranks: 95th amateurs/students spacecraft :  Sponsor: SpaceQuest/AMSAT-NA Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Source: AMSAT Orbit: 697 km x  817 km x 98.3° Mission: OSCAR 51 ("Echo") is a new microsat-class satellite launched by AMSAT-NA, that became operational on 30 July 2004. AO-51 cost $110,000 to launch. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025K ; AMSAT :

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Latinsat D / Aprizesat-2 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #34 ; 2004-025A ; 6254th spacecraft. Type: Communications (data relay) Families: Ranks: 521st Commercial spacecraft ;  Sponsor: SpaceQuest/Aprize Argentina Launch: 29 June 2004 at 6h30 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-109, by a Dnepr. Orbit: 695 km x 852 km x 98.3° Source: Aprizesat Mission: Latinsat D is an experimental Argentinean communications satellite that provides messaging services sponsored by Aprize Satellite Inc. which is developing a low-cost wireless network that will provide asset tracking and data-monitoring services worldwide. These Aprizesat satellites will allow the company to evaluate the operational performance and end-to-end reliability of the Aprize monitoring device and customer data distribution system for U.S. applications. Aprize plans to deploy a constellation of up to 24 satellites to provide low-cost data tracking and monitoring services worldwide. The cost of the Aprize satellites is approximately one-tenth of what it would cost other satellite companies to deploy a similar system.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 530 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-025A ; Aprizesat ;

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Aura / EOS Chemistry-1 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #35 ; 2004-026A ; 6255th spacecraft. Type: Earth sciences Families: Ranks: 1689th American spacecraft (590th civilian) ; Sponsor: NASA Launch: 15 July 2004 at 10h02 UTC, from Vandenberg Air Force Base's SLC-2W, by a Delta 7920. Source : NASA Orbit: 673 km x 681 km x 98.2° Mission: Aura is EOS Chemistry-1, the third large satellite in the Earth Observing System series.  This remote sensing satellite monitors ozone and related molecules in the stratosphere and troposphere, as an extension of the previous observations by UARS and TOMS missions. It carries an infrared radiometer and spectrometer, an ultraviolet/visible ozone monitoring spectrometer and a microwave sounder to study ozone and pollutants in the atmosphere. Aura form part of the "A-Train", a constellation of remote sensing satellites in the same afternoon-ascending-node, sun-synchronous, orbital plane providing coordinated observations. Aqua leads the A-train, with Aura trailing; smaller satellites will be launched inbetween the two. The 2.97 tonne, 4.6 kW, 2.7 meters x 2.3 meters x 6.9 meters size satellite is built by Northrop Grumman Space Technology (formerly TRW). Llaunch mass was 3,112 kg. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 531; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-026A ; NASA :

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Anik F2 Spacecraft: Anik means "little brother" in the Inuit language. Chronologies: 2004 payload #36 ; 2004-027A ; 6256th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 25th Canadian spacecraft ; 729th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Telesat Canada Launch: 18 July 2004 at 0h44 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 519, V163). Source : Boeing Launch: Geostationary at 111.1° West longitude. Mission: Anik F2 Anik F2 is a communications satellite that provides broadband and telemedicine to northern US states and Canada. The 5.95-tonne (with fuel), 16-kW, 7.3 meters x 3.8 meters x 3.4 meters size satellite carries 38 Ka-band transponders, 32 Ku-band transponders and 24 C-band transponders. It has a launch mass of 5,950 kg, a solar array spanning 48 metres and spacecraft power of 15 kw at end of life. It provides commercial services for an estimated 15 years, enabling access to two-way, high-speed Internet services for consumers and businesses as well as providing new capacity for a wide range of broadcasting and telecommunications services across North America.  It carries a xenon ion propulsion system for orbit trims when needed. According to Telesat, Anik F2 is the world’s largest commercial communications satellite and is also the first satellite to fully commercialize the Ka frequency band. It represents Telesat’s fifteenth successful satellite launch. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 531 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-027A ; Telesat : Boeing ;

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Kosmos 2407 Spacecraft:  Parus (11F627) Chronologies: 2004 payload #37 ; 2004-028A ; 6257th spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: Ranks: 3427th Russian spacecraft (2376th military) : Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 22 July 2004 at 17h46 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-132, by a Kosmos-3M. Orbit: 951 km x 1,007 km x 83° x 104.7 min. Mission: Kosmos 2407 is a new 820-kg Parus navigation satellite. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 531 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-028A ;

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TC-2 / Tan Ce 2 / DSP-P Spacecraft:  Double Star Program-Polar / Tan Ce mest Explorer or Probe ( also known as Double Star 2, Explorer 2 and as Tan Ce 2 (TC 2)) Chronologies: 2004 payload #38 ; 2004-029A ; 6258th spacecraft. Type: Earth upper atmosphere studies Families: Ranks: 83rd Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: CNSA-ESA / Chinese National Space Administration/European Space Agency  Launch: 25 July 2004 at 7h05 UTC, from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng 2C/SM. Orbit: 682 km x 38,279 km x 90.1° 654 x 38,573 km x 90.0° (with apogee over the Arctic Circle). Mission: Tan Ce 2, a European-Chinese satellite, is the second joint mission of the Double Star program. It is the second probe (polar) in this magnetospheric research program, complementing the 28° equatorial Tan Ce 1 and the four European Cluster satellites in deeper Earth orbits. Tan Ce 2 has a mass of 343 kg. Alongside with ESA’s quartet of Cluster satellites, Tan Ce 1 and 2 closely studies the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field. They provide the most detailed view to date. The positions and orbit of the Double Star satellites have been carefully defined to enable exploration of the magnetosphere on a larger scale than is possible with Cluster alone. The duo are much closer to Earth, TC-1 being in an elliptical orbit (550 x 63,780 km) where it will operates for 18 months, ans TC-2 being in polar orbit (700 x 39,000 km) where it will operates for 12 months. One example of the coordinated activity between these satellites is the study of the substorms that produce aurorae. The exact region where these emissions of brightness form is still unclear, but the simultaneous high-resolution measurements combined under these two missions are expected to provide an answer. TC-1 is already returning a wealth of scientific data. Back in January 2004, Cluster and TC-1 tracked a coronal mass ejection from the Sun and gathered valuable data about the Earth's bow shock. (The launch of TC 2 took place one day earlier than schedule in order to avoid adverse weather conditions expected in the days to come.)  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 531 & 532 ; Spacewarn No. 609 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-029A ; ESA ;

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MESSENGER Spacecraft:  MESSENGER stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging. Chronologies: 2004 payload #39 ; 2004-030A ; 6259th spacecraft. Type: Mercury probe  Families: Discovery-7 mission Ranks: 1690th American spacecraft (591st civilian) ; Sponsor: NASA / Johns Hopkins University's APL Launch: 3 August 2004 at 6h16 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's LC-17B, by a Delta II 7925H. Source: NASA Orbit: Heliocentric (inner Solar system), initial: 0.92 x 1.08 AU x 6.4° Mercury's initial orbit: 200 km x 15,193 km x 80° x 12 hr. Mission: MESSENGER, the second probe launched to study the planet Mercury (after Mariner 10), will conduct an in-depth study of the Sun’s closest neighbor. Carrying seven scientific instruments, the probe will provide the first images of the entire planet and collect detailed information on the composition and structure of Mercury’s crust, its geologic history, the nature of its thin atmosphere and active magnetosphere, and the makeup of its core and polar materials. MESSENGER pass lunar orbit on 4 Auigust 2004 at 6h00 UTC and leave the Earth's sphere of influence on 5 August 2004 at around 18h00 UTC. But, before arriving at Mercury in March 2011, MESSENGER will perform a 7.9-billion kilometer journey through the inner Solar system that includes 15 loops around the Sun, It will past Earth once (in August 2005), Venus twice (in October 2006 and June 2007) and Mercury three times (in January 2008, October 2008 and September 2009) before easing into orbit around its target planet.      After 6½ years and 7.9 billions kilometres of flight around the Sun, MESSENGER became the first spacecraft ever to entere Mercury's orbit on 18 March 2011. The orbit insertion burn began at 0h45 UT and was completed at 01h00 UT. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 532, 640 ; Spacewarn No. 610 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-030A ; NASA's MESSENGER ; Astronomy Now's 18 Marc 10 ; NASA's 2010-2014 NASA News Releases ; Spaceflight Now's 2014 Stories, ;

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Amazonas 1 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #40 ; 2004-031A ; 6260th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 242nd European spacecraft ; 730th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Spain's Hispasat Launch: 4 August 2004 at 22h32 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome, by a Proton M Breeze M (Proton-M 53507 / Briz-M 88508). Orbit: Geostationary at 61° West longitude. Mission: Amazonas is a Spanish communications satellite that provides broad-band video and internet services to the North and South American continents and western Europe. With 51 transponders, the Amazonas Latin American satellite provides a full range of telecommunications services to Brazil, North and South America, and a transatlantic link for Europe. It provide both fixed and broadcast communications services through 32 transponders in Ku-band and 19  transponders in C-band, over a 17.5-year mission lifetime. The services offered includes TV broadcasting, business services (including VSAT) and data broadcasting. The spacecraft had a launch mass of 4,545 kg, a solar array span of 35 metres and a spacecraft power of more than 9.5 kW at end of life. It is the fifth and most powerful satellite launched for the Spanish telecommunications satellite organisation Hispasat and it is built by EADS Astrium. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 532 & 536 ; Spacewarn No. 610 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-031A ; EADS Astrium :

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Progress M-50 / ISS 15P Spacecraft:  Progress M (7K-TGM) No. 250 Chronologies: 2004 payload #41 ; 2004-032A ; 6261st spacecraft. Type: Cargo delivery to the International Space Station Families: Ranks: 3428th Russian spacecraft (1052nd civilian) : Sponsor: Russian's Federal Space Agency Launch: 11 August 2004 at 5h03 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-1, by a Soyuz-U. Photo: NASA Progress M-50 processing at the Baikonur cosmodrome. (Photos : Energia) Orbit: 354 km x 378 km x 51.6° x 91.6 min  Reentry 23 December 2004 Mission: Progress-M 50 is a Russian cargo carrier that delivers almost three tons of food, fuel, oxygen, water and supplies to the residents of the International Space Station. Its refueling propellants compartment accommodates 442 kg of fuel, 28 kg of oxygen, 21 kg of air and 420 kg of potable water. Its cargo bay contains some 1.4 tons of dry cargoes: food products, equipment and facilities for the station onboard systems, medical equipment, underclothes, personal hygiene and individual protection aids, sets of onboard documentation, video and photographic materials, parcels for crewmembers, structural members, payloads for the USOS, equipment and materials for conducting space experiments.  (The spacecraft was launched at 9 hours 3 minutes 7 seconds Moscow Time.) The cargoship docked with Zvezda on 14 August 2004 at 5h01 UTC. The resupply vehicle docked to the axial docking port of Zvezda on 14 August 2004 at 5h01 UTC.  On 22 December 2004, Progress M-50 cleared the docking port of ISS at 19h34 UTC.and, following a controllable de-orbit in the assigned area of the Pacific Ocean, the vehicle was burned. It was deorbited over the Pacific at 22h32 UTC. Processing of Progress M-50 and its launcher at Baikonur. (Photos : Energia) Source: Jonathan Space Report No.533 & 541 ; Spacewarn No. 610 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-032A ; Energiay RSC :PR-24 Dec 04,;

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FSW 3-2 Spacecraft:  Fanhuishi Shiyan Weixing  Chronologies: 2004 payload #42 ; 2004-033A ; 6262nd spacecraft. Type: Families: 84th Chinese spacecraft ; Ranks: Reconnaissance Sponsor: China Launch: 29 August 2004 at 7h50 UTC, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng-2C. Orbit: 165 km x 490 km x 63.0° x 91 min. Recovered: 24 September 2004 at 23h55 UTC Mission: FSW-3 2 is a Chinese  recoverable imaging satellite that provides mapping and land surveying data.. It is the 19th launch of such recoverable satellites. It is expected to return a capsule to Earth after 27 days in space.  It has the highest apogee of any FSW series flight. Notes: Surprinzingly, this mission  used the CZ-2C rather than the beefed-up CZ-2D which was used for the last three FSW launches. The CZ-2C was used for the older FSW-1 model, rather than the more modern FSW-2 and JB-4 models. It could be that the  CZ-2C is one of the stretched ones left over from the Iridium program, and may have a larger payload capacity.. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 534 & 536 ; Spacewarn No. 611 & 613 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-033A ;

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NROL-1 (USA 179) Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #43 ; 2004-034A ; 6263rd spacecraft. Type: Communications (data relay) Families: Ranks: 1691st American spacecraft (1100th military) ; Sponsor: U.S. National Reconnaissance Office  Launch: 31 August 2004 at 23h17 UTC, from Cape Canaveral's LC-36, by an Atlas IIAS (AC-167). Source: NRO Orbit: ~400 x ~40,000 km x 63° Mission: The satellite is reported to provide relay services to the several low-altitude, high-latitude photo-reconnaissance satellites, from its high apogee in the northern hemisphere. The launch was given the codename NROL-1, and the USA 179 satellite is the second elliptical orbit NRO Atlas launch, following Capricorn in Jannuary 1998. Two geostationary NRO Atlas launches ("Great Bear" in December 2000 and "Aquila" in October 2001) might be part of the same data relay satellite series. Note that the three photos above depicted, according to NRO, "views of a communications relay satellite" (s that NROL-1?). Launch: This is the final launch for the Atlas 2, capping 13 years of service for the Lockheed Martin-built booster with a 100 percent success rate. The flight also marked the last time a rocket would liftoff from pad 36A at Cape Canaveral, after 42 years of services and 69 launches, This launch was the fifth attempt in as many days for the classified NROL-1 satellite. Battery concerns with the spacecraft’s booster scrubbed its first Aug. 27 attempt, then the inadvertent venting of 10,000 pounds of liquid oxygen fuel led to a second scrub 24 hours later. Poor weather grounded two additional launch attempts before today's space shot.      Note that reports from observers indicate that the Centaur AC-167 rocket is in a lower apogee orbit than anticipated, around 255 x 15370 km x 57.4°. A prelaunch announcement that the Centaur would deliver the payload to an 'ascent trajectory' suggests that this is the intended transfer orbit (rather than a failure) and the payload will probably use (or has already used) an onboard engine to reach a final orbit which it is expect to have an apogee of around 39000 km. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 534& 535 ; Spacewarn No. 611 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-034A ; ILS and also ;

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'Ofeq 6 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #44 ; 2004 1st loss ; 6264th spacecraft. Type: Reconnaissance Families: Ranks: 9th Isrealian spacecraft ; 684th failure ; Sponsor: Israel Defense ministry Launch: 6 September 2004 at 10h53 UTC, from Palmachim, by a Shavyit . Orbit: n/a Mission: The 'Ofeq-6 spy satellite failed to reach orbit. According to the Jerusalem Post, the third stage of the Shavyit launch vehicle failed to operate and the payload fell in the Mediterranean. The launch time was reported as 13h53 local. The lower two stages separated and at 11h02 UTC and 260 km high the AUS-51 third stage was meant to fire for 92 seconds to put the satellite in a retrograde 260 km x 770 km x 143.5° orbit. (Most countries launch east to gain energy from the Earth's rotation, but Israel launches west over the Mediterranean to avoid misunderstandings with its eastern neighbours.) Without the third stage burn, the vehicle would have impacted around 11h06 UTC, probably somewhere south of Crete. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 534 ;

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SJ-6A / Shi Jian 6A Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #45 ; 2004-035A ; 6265th spacecraft. Type: Earth sciences Families: Ranks: 85th Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: China Launch: 8 September 2004 at 23h14 UTC, from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng 4B. . Orbit: Initial: 590 km x 602 km x 97.7° Circular at 602 km x 97.7° x 96.6 min Mission: SJ 6A and SJ 6B are two Chinese space radiation monitoring satellites. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 535 ; Spacewarn No. 611 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-035A ;

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SJ-6B / Shi Jian 6B Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #46 ; 2004-035B; 6266th spacecraft. Type: Earth sciences Families: Ranks: 86th Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: China Launch: 8 September 2004 at 23h14 UTC, from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng Initial : 590 km x 602 km x 97.7°4B Orbit: Initial: 590 km x 602 km x 97.7° Circular at 602 km x 97.7° x 96.6 min Mission: SJ 6A and SJ 6B are two Chinese space radiation monitoring satellites. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 535 ; Spacewarn No. 611 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-035B ;

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EDUSAT / GSAT-3 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #47 ; 2004-036A ; 6267th spacecraft. Type: Communications Families: Ranks: 39th Indian spacecraft ; 731st geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: India's ISRO / Indian Space Research Organization Launch: 20 September 2004 at 10h31 UTC, from Satish Dhawan Space Center (Sriharikota), by a GSLV (F04 / GSLV-F-01). Orbit: Geostationary at 74° East longitude. Mission: Edusat is a 2.0-tonne, 2.0-kW satellite that provides interactive educational programs to thousands of schools in different linguistic regions via five spot-beams from its five Ku-band transponders, and via wider beams from six extended C-band transponders. The satellite is 2.4 x 1.6-meter across at launch with a 10.9-meter span across the deployed solar panels, (It is a 820-kg satellite carrying 1,130 kg of propellant.) It is the fourth launch of the GSLV rocket which carries a Russian-made motor on its cryogenic third stage.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 535 ; Spacewarn No. 611 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-036A ;

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Kosmos 2408 Spacecraft:  Strela-3 Chronologies: 2004 payload #48 ; 2004-037A ; 6268th spacecraft. Type: Communications Families: Ranks: 3429th Russian spacecraft (2377th military) : Sponsor: Russia Desenfe ministry Launch: 23 September 2004 at 15h07 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, by a Kosmos 3M. Orbit: 1470 km x 1495 km x 82.5° 1468 km x 1490 km x 82.5° x 116 min. Mission: These two military communications spacecrafts were the 127th and 128th Strela-3 satellites to be launched. Strela-3 missions launched from 1985 to 2001 went into lower 1400 x 1420 km orbits in groups of 6 aboard Tsiklon-3 rockets, but the switch to launching in pairs aboard Kosmos-3M rockets in 2002 also saw a transition to the slightly higher orbit, with one pair being launched each year. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 535 & 536 ; Spacewarn No. 611 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-037A ;

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Kosmos 2409 Spacecraft:  Strela-3 Chronologies: 2004 payload #49 ; 2004-037B ; 6269th spacecraft. Type: Military communications Families: Ranks: 3430th Russian spacecraft (2378th military) : Sponsor: Russian Desenfe ministry Launch: 23 September 2004 at 15h07 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, by a Kosmos 3M. Orbit: 1470 km x 1495 km x 82.5° 1468 km x 1490 km x 82.5° x 116 min. Mission: These two military communications spacecrafts were the 127th and 128th Strela-3 satellites to be launched. Strela-3 missions launched from 1985 to 2001 went into lower 1400 x 1420 km orbits in groups of 6 aboard Tsiklon-3 rockets, but the switch to launching in pairs aboard Kosmos-3M rockets in 2002 also saw a transition to the slightly higher orbit, with one pair being launched each year. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 535 & 536; Spacewarn No. 611 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-037B ;

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Kosmos 2410 Spacecraft:  Kobal't / Yantar'-4KS2 Chronologies: 2004 payload #50 ; 2004-038A ; 6270th spacecraft. Type: Reconnaissance Families: Ranks: 3431st Russian spacecraft (2379th military) : Sponsor: Russian Defense ministry Launch: 24 September 2004 at 16h50 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-16, by a Soyuz-U. Orbit: Initial: 165 km x 358 kmx 67.7° 162 km x 332 km x 67° x 89 min. Recovered: 9 January 2005 Mission: Kosmos 2410 initial orbit is typical of Kobal't (Yantar'-4KS2) reconnaissance satellites, but the later orbit is higher than usual. The orbit decayed to 159 km x 312 km by 1st October 2004, when it raised to 213 km x 330 km. On 15 October, the orbit was 206 km x 304 km. This is consistent with press reports that the new satellite is an improved Kobal't with a longer orbital lifetime. The spacecraft was developed by the TsSKB-Progress design bureau and the Arsenal production plant. The old version of the satellite had a main reentry vehicle and two small SpK recoverable film capsules; it's not clear if the new version carries extra capsules as originally planned in the mid-1990s. Another variant, the 17F12 Don, which had 8 small capsules and a 4 month duration, was last launched in 2003 from Baykonur and uses a very similar orbit to Kosmos 2410; if it wasn't for the press reports claiming this was a new vehicle, it would have identified this as the first Plesetsk-launched Don mission.     The test flight of the improved Kobal't spy satellite came to an end after 107 days, about half its expected lifetime. The main recovery vehicle was deorbited from its orbit around 7h00 UTC on 9 January 2005 and is presumed to have landed in Russia around 7h20 UTC, but has not been found by Russian forces. Two objects were ejected from the satellite on 8 January  into low orbits and reentered within a day; they may have been unused small film recovery capsules, two of which were carried on earlier Kobal't models. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 536 & 544 ; Spacewarn No. 611 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-038A ;

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FSW 3-3 Spacecraft:  Fanhui Shei Weixing. Chronologies: 2004 payload #51 ; 2004-039A ; 6271st spacecraft. Type: Reconnaissance. Families: Ranks: 87th Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: China Launch: 27 September 2004 at 8h00 UTC, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng 2D. Orbit: 201 km x 315 km x 63° x 89.8 min. Recovered: 15 October 2004 at 2h48 UTC Mission: FSW 3 is a recoverable, photo-imaging spacecraft  It is reportsd that the satellite was "used in scientific research, geological surveying and mapping". This is the 20th launch of such recoverable satellites. The spacecraft was placed into a 205 km x 297 km x 63.0° orbit and raised its apogee the next day to 206 km x 320 km. In comparison, FSW 19, which was launched on 29 August 2004, was in a 167 km x 553 km x 63.0° orbit; analysts have assumed both are FSW type 3 (JB-4) models, but it is not sure, perhaps one is a leftover FSW-2 model.      The spacecraft recoverable capsule returned to Earth on 15 October 2004, falling through the roof of a house in the village of Penglai, Sichuan province. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 536 & 537 ; Spacewarn No. 611 & 613 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-039A ;

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Soyuz TMA-5 / ISS 9S Spacecraft:  Soyuz 11F732 No. 215 Chronologies: 2004 payload #52 ; 2004-040A ; 6272nd spacecraft. Type: Piloted spaceship Families: Ranks: 3432nd Russian spacecraft (1053rd civilian) : Sponsor: Russian Federal Space Agency : The Soyuz TMA-5 preparations at Baykonur Cosmodrome. (Photos: RSC Energiya) Launch 14 October 2004 at 3h06 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-1, by a Soyuz-FG. Orbit: Initial: 238.1 km x 204.0 km x 51.67° x 88.6 min. 355 km x 367 km x 51.6° x 87.1 min. Landing: 24 April 2005 at 22h07:27 UTC Mission: Soyuz TMA-5 is a passenger transportation craft that carried two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut to the International Space Station. The purpose of the mission is tho deliver to ISS the crew of Expedition 10, the scheduled rotation of the Expedition 9 crew and replaced the Soyuz TMA-4, which has been providing assured crew return functionality as a part of the space station since 23 April  2004. The crew is composed of commander Salizhan Sharipov, flight engineer-1 Leroy Chiao and flight engineer-2 Yuriy Shargin. It docked with the PIRS module on 16 October 2004 at 4h16 UTC with manual control by the commander after it was determined to be approaching the ISS at an excessive speed. NASA astronaut Chiao then becomes ISS Expedition 10 Commander, Sharipov becomes Expedition 10 Flight Engineer, and Shargin is Visting Crew 7 (EP-7) Flight Engineer. The Expedition 10 will spend a six-month residency at the station.    Soyuz TMA-5 landed with Sharipov, Chiao and Vittori on 24 April 2005 at 22h07:27 UTC, after undocking from Zarya at 18h45 UTC and a deorbit burn at 21h17 UTC. The crew landed on muddy ground in Kazakhstan at 51 03° North, 67 18° East.  Preparations of the Soyuz launcher and launch of Soyuz TMA-5 (Photos: RSC Energiya) Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 536,537 & 547 ; Spacewarn No. 612 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-040A ;

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AMC 15 / AMERICOM 15 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #53 ; 2004-041A ; 6273rd spacecraft. Type: Communications (DBS) Families: Ranks: 522nd Commercial spacecraft ; 732nd geostationary satellite  Sponsor: SES Americom Launch: 14 October 2004 at 21h23 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome, by a Proton-M/Briz-M (Proton-M 53508 / Briz-M 88510). Orbit: Geostarionary at 105° West longitude. Mission: AMC 15, also known as AMERICOM 15, is a 4.05-tonne (4021 kg) communications satellite that carries 24 Ku-band transponders and 12 spot-beam, Ka-band transponders to provide direct-to-home video, voice, and internet services to North America. An A2100 model built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, it is the first satellite dedicated to AMERICOM2Home® and has been optimized to provide both direct-to-home video and broadband services into a single dish. The spacecraft delivers service to all 50 U.S. states as the first satellite committed to EchoStar Communications' DISH Network satellite TV service. The Proton launch is the ninth mission of the year for International Launch Services (ILS). Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 536; Spacewarn No. 612 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-041A ; SES AMERICOM :  ILS (see also) ;

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FY-2C / Fengyun 2C Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #54 ; 2004-042A ; 6274th spacecraft. Type: Meteorology Families: Ranks: 88th Chinese spacecraft ; 733rd geostationary satellite  Sponsor: China Launch: 19 October 2004 at 1h20 UTC, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng 3A. Orbit: Geostationary at 105° East longitude. Mission: Fengyun 2C is a 1.38-tonne weather satellite that carries imagers in visible and infra-red bands to monitor droplet sizes on cloud tops, ocean temperature, dust storms and forest fires over one-third of the global surface. This third Fengyun-2 weather satellite is the first of the operational 'batch 2' model. Xinhua reports that the prelaunch name of the satellite is FY-2 04, and the postlaunch name is FY-2C. (Note that FY-2 01 spacecraft was destroyed in ground fire in 1994, FY-2 02 (FY-2A), launched in 1997, in in reserve since May 2000 at 86° East longitude, and FY-2 03 (FY-2B), launched in 2000, is in operation at 123° East longitude.)      According to the Xinhua News Agency, FY-2C was ‘deorbited’ on 13 December 2014; this could means that “all instruments of the satellite were closed.”  The news agency reports that FY-2C stopped operation on 25 November 2009 and then it had been in backup status. FY-2C was the first Chinese geostationary meteorological satellite which achieved continuous and stable operation in-orbit. As of December 2014, there were three FY-2 geostationary in operation. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 537 ; Spacewarn No. 612 ; Xinhua's 26 Dec 14 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-042A ;

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Express-AM1 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #55 ; 2004-043A ; 6275th spacecraft. Type: Communications (multi-services) Families: Ranks: 3433rd Russian spacecraft (1054th civilian) : 734th geostationary satellite ; Sponsor: Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) Launch: 29 October 2004 at 22h11 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome, by a Proton-K/DM-2M (11S861-01). Orbit: Geostationary at 40° East longitude. Mission: Express-AM1 is a communications satellite that provides digital TV, radio broadcasting, video-conference and wide-band internet services to most of Russia. The 2,600-kg, 4,200-watts spacecraft carries one L-band transponder, nine C-band transponders and eighteen Ku-band transponders. The satellite is built by Reshetnev (NPO PM) ans it's comms payload by the Japanese companies NEC and Toshiba. The spacecraft is owned and operated by the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC). It is the third out of five Express satellites and has a 12- year design life. The spacecraft is produced in the context of the Program for Renovation of National Constellation to be executed over a time period of 2002–2005. The Ekspress series has had three generations: Ekspress, Ekspress A and Ekspress AM. Ekspress-AM uses an improved Ekspress-M or 727M bus, first used on the Sesat satellite (launched in 2000), while the earlier models use the KAUR-4 MSO-2500 bus. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 538 ; Spacewarn No. 612 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-043A ; RSCC's Express-AM1 ;

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ZY-2C / Ziyuan-2 3  Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #56 ; 2004-044A ; 6276th spacecraft. Type: Reconnaissance Families: Ranks: 89th Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: China Launch: 4 November 2004 at 3h10 UTC, from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng 4B. Orbit: 472 km x 483 km x 97.3° x 94.2 min Mission: This third ZY-2 satellite is a low-orbit digital imaging spacecraft used by the Chinese government, probably for both civilian and military reconnaissance purposes. It is expected to enable better land surveying, crop yield assessment and disaster monitoring. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 538 ; Spacewarn No. 613 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-044A ;

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Navstar 52 (USA 180) Spacecraft:  GPS SVN 61 / GPS IIR-13 Chronologies: 2004 payload #57 ; 2004-045A ; 6277th spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: 56th Navstar Ranks: 1692nd American spacecraft (1101st military) ; Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense Launch: 6 November 2004 at 5h39 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-17B, by a Delta II 7925. Orbit: Initial: 19,810 km x 20,412 km x 54.8° x 715.1 min 19,794 km x 20,486 km x 54.9° Mission: Navstar 56 is a navigational satellite that is part of the 24-element GPS fleet and it replaces the oldest member of the fleet, Navstar 2A-02 launched in July 1991. It is located in Plane D, Slot 1. This GPS Block IIR spacecraft is built by Lockheed Martin/Sunnyvale. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 538 & 539;Spacewarn No. 613 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-045A ;

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Oblik Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #58 ; 2004 n/a ; 6278th spacecraft. Type: Technology Families: Ranks: 3434th Russian spacecraft (1055th civilian) : Sponsor: Russia Launch: 8 November 2004 at 18h30 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-43/4, by a Soyuz-2-1A . Orbit: Mission: This mission is the first launch of the improved Soyuz-2-1A rocket to be carried out. Thes launcher carried a leftover Oblik spy satellite, carrying launch vehicle monitoring equipment to record accelerations, vibrations and temperatures. (It is presumably stripped of the normal camera equipment.) It is, in fact a derivative of the original Vostok/Zenit spy satellite and was last launched on a civilian mapping mission ten years ago      Prelaunch reports indicated that the rocket would reach orbit, but it now appears that it only reached a suborbital path; which makes it hard for outside observers to judge whether or not the launch was in fact successful. According to the rocket manufacturers, the rocket only reached a suborbital trajectory, with both 11S510 stage and payload falling in the Pacific.      The Soyuz-2-1A is very similar to the standard Soyuz-U or Soyuz-FG rocket, but carries improved digital avionics and uses 14D21 and 14D22 engines. . Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 538 & 539 ;

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Shiyan 2 / Tansuo 2 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #59 ; 2004-046A ; 6279th spacecraft. Type: Earth remote sensing / reconnaissance? Families: Ranks: 90th Chinese spacecraft ; Sponsor: China's DFH Satellite Co Launch: 18 November 2004 at 10h45 UTC, from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, by a Chang Zheng 2C. Orbit: Initial: 695.2 km x 711.4 km x 98.1° x 98.8 min 694 km x 711 km x 98.2° Mission: Shiyan-2 is a 300-kg remote sensing payload. It's not clear if it's the same design as the Harbin-developed Shiyan 1 launched in April. Also know as Tansuo 2 (or as Shijan Weixing 2 and as Experimental Satellite 2), the spacecraft tests some technology developments and also surveyed and monitored the geographical environment. ( This is the 8th Chinese launch this year, a record for the country.) Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 539 ; Spacewarn No. 613 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-046A ;

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Swift Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #60 ; 2004-047A ; 6280th spacecraft. Type: Astronomy Families: Ranks: 1693rd American spacecraft (592nd civilian) ;  Sponsor: NASA Launch: 20 November 2004 at 17h16 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-17A, by a Delta 2 7320-10C. Orbit: 584 km x 604 km x 20.6° Mission: Swift is a 1,470-kg, 1,040-W Gamma-ray astrophysics satellite that houses three telescopes and associated detectors and electronics. This Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer carries the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), which can see ten percent of the sky at once and, when a gamma ray burst occurs, will immediately trigger the satellite to point roughly at the site of the burst so that the X-ray Telescope (XRT) and the 30-cm aperture Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) will catch the resulting light and can locate the burst more exactly. The accurate positions obtained by XRT and UVOT will also be flashed to astronomers worldwide, who will then rush to follow up the afterglow before it fades by using ground-based telescopes and other satellites. XRT and UVOT also take spectra to measure the glow's redshift and physical properties. Swift is the third launched NASA Midex (medium-class Explorer) mission, following IMAGE and MAP, and the mission is led by NASA-Goddard's Neil Gehrels. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 539 ; Spacewarn No. 613 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-047A ; NASA's 2010-2014 NASA News Releases ; See NASA videos Highlights of Swift's Decade of Discovery and Swift: A Decade of Game-changing Astrophysics, NASA Goddard, November 2014.

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AMC 16 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #61 ; 2004-048A ; 6281st spacecraft. Type: Communications (DBS) Families: Ranks: 523rd Commercial spacecraft ; 735th geostationary satellite ;  Sponsor: SES Americom Launch: 17 December 2004 at 12h07 UTC, from Cape Canaveral's SLC-41, by an Atlas 521 (AV-005) Orbit: Geostationary at 85° West longitude. Mission: AMC 16 is a communications satellite that carries 24 Ku-band transponders to provide direct-to-home video communications to all of North America. It is a Lockheed Martin A2100AX hybrid Ku-band/Ka-band communications spacecraft. Notes: The satellite was launched by AV-005, the fourth Atlas 5 mission to be launched. The Atlas 521 rocket has two solid rocket boosters, the Atlas 5 core stage, and a single-engine Centaur second stage with a 5-meter fairing. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 5xx ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-048A ;

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Helios 2A Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #62 ; 2004-049A ; 6282nd spacecraft. Type: Reconnaissance Families: Ranks: 243rd European spacecraft ; Sponsor: Rrance/Europe Launch: 18 December 2004 at 16h26 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 520, V165). Orbit: Initial: 681 km x 683 km x 98.1° x 98 min Mission: Helios 2A is a  military, photo-reconnaissance satellite that, for the first time, provide the European Union an independent military intelligence capability. It is a French-managed European reconnaissance satellite built by EADS-Astrium/Toulouse, with a mass of 4,200 kg. The satellite carries imagers in the visible and infrared bands.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-049A ;

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Parasol Spacecraft:  Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Science coupled with Observations from LIDAR Chronologies: 2004 payload #63 ; 2004-049G ; 6283rd spacecraft. Type: Earth upper atmosphere studies Families: Ranks: 244th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: France's CNES Launch: 18 December 2004 at 16h26 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 520, V165). Orbit: 657 km x 666 km x 98.1° x 98 min. Mission: PARASOL is a 120-kg satellite that provides data on the physical properties of clouds and aerosols. It studies cloud and aerosol formation as part of the A-train satellite formation with a wide-field polarization imager Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-049G ;

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Nanosat Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #64 ; 2004-049B ; 6284th spacecraft. Type: Technology Families: Ranks: 245th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: Spain's INTA Launch: 18 December 2004 at 16h26 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 520, V165). Orbit: 657 km x 666 km x 98.1° x 98 min. Mission: Nanosat 1, a Spanish nanosatellite, is a 15-kg, 20-W spacecraft that will help maintain contact with the Spanish zone in Antarctica.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-049B ;

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Essaim 1 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #65 ; 2004-049C ; 6285th spacecraft. Type: Signal intelligence Families: Ranks: 246th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: France Launch: 18 December 2004 at 16h26 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 520, V165). Orbit: 657 km x 666 km x 98.1° x 98 min. Mission: Essaim 1 is one of the four 120-kg French military microsatellites that demonstrate models to map the "electro-magnetic environment of the Earth's surface". The design of the next generation Essaims will be based on the performance of the models.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-049C ;

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Essaim 2 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #66 ; 2004-049D ; 6286th spacecraft. Type: Signal intelligence Families: Ranks: 247th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: France Launch: 18 December 2004 at 16h26 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 520, V165). Orbit: 657 km x 666 km x 98.1° x 98 min. Mission: Essaim 2 is one of the four 120-kg French military microsatellites that demonstrate models to map the "electro-magnetic environment of the Earth's surface". The design of the next generation Essaims will be based on the performance of the models. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-049D ;

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Essaim 3 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #67 ; 2004-049E ; 6287th spacecraft. Type: Signal intelligence Families: Ranks: 248th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: France Launch: 18 December 2004 at 16h26 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 520, V165). Orbit: 657 km x 666 km x 98.1° x 98 min. Mission: Essaim 3 is one of the four 120-kg French military microsatellites that demonstrate models to map the "electro-magnetic environment of the Earth's surface". The design of the next generation Essaims will be based on the performance of the models. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-049E ;

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Essaim 4 Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #68 ; 2004-049F ; 6288th spacecraft. Type: Families: Ranks: 249th European spacecraft ; Sponsor: France Launch: 18 December 2004 at 16h26 UTC, from Kourou Space Center's ELA-3, by an Ariane 5G+ (Ariane 520, V165). Orbit: 657 km x 666 km x 98.1° x 98 min. Mission: Essaim 4 is one of the four 120-kg French military microsatellites that demonstrate models to map the "electro-magnetic environment of the Earth's surface". The design of the next generation Essaims will be based on the performance of the models. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-049F ;

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Demosat (USA 181) Spacecraft:  HLVOLSDP / Heavy Lift Vehicle Operational Launch Service Demonstration Payload Chronologies: 2004 payload #69 ; 2004-050A (failure) ; 6289th spacecraft. Type: Technology Families: Ranks: 1694th American spacecraft (1102nd militar) ; 685th failure ; Sponsor:  U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program Launch: 21 December 2004 at 21h50 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-39B, by a Delta IV Heavy. Orbit: 19,041 km x 36,420 km x 13.5° x 1,045 min. 19 027 km x 36 406 km x 13.5° Mission: Demosat is a 6.1-tonne dummy/mockup of an American military satellite that was launched on the maiden flight of Delta 4-Heavy (720 tonne, 23-story high) rocket. Also called the HLVOLSDP (Heavy Lift Vehicle Operational Launch Service Demonstration Payload), it was based on a demonstration payload constructed for the maiden Delta-4 flight (not used), as a real payload was available. DemoSat is a cylindrical outer aluminium structure 1.95-m high and 1.38 m diameter. The inner ballast consists of sixty brass rods, stiffeners, fasteners and fittings. It is an aluminum cylindrical structure (2-meter height and 1.4-meter diameter) designed to ensure complete burn-out of the craft during reentry.       The Delta IV Heavy lifted off from Space Launch Complex 37B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 16h50 EST, on a demonstration launch for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The demonstration satellite was deployed following a 5-hour and 50-minute flight.      This demonstration satellite did not reach its intended orbit, a preliminary review of the data indicates that a shorter than expected first-stage burn led to the low orbit. However, according to the Air Force EELV program office, the primary flight objectives were accomplished in this all-up test of the new launch vehicle. It is considered that this booster achieved the major test objectives despite placing its demonstration satellite in a lower than expected orbit.  Notes: The Delta IV Heavy, Boeing's new large rocket, consists of three CBC (Common Booster Core) rockets strapped together, with a new 5-meter diameter Delta second stage. This new second stage is a larger version of the 4-meter stage pioneered on Delta III and used on earlier Delta IV launches; it has a single RL10B-2 LH2/LOX engine. The outboard CBCs separated 4 minutes after launch at an altitude of around 75 km; they probably reached around 90 km before falling back into the Atlantic. The center CBC separated shortly after 5 minutes into the mission at an altitude of about 100 km and made a suborbital flight.  The Delta stage 2 cut off about 13 minutes into flight and put the spacecraft in an initial orbit of only around 105 km, compared to the expected 180 km x 240 km orbit. The Nanosat payloads separated at this point, and quickly reentered. Then the Delta fired again to enter geostationary transfer orbit of 288 km x 36,428 km x 27.2°.  A final burn expected at 3h27 UTC on 22 December was to put the Demosat in a 36,350 km circular orbit just below geosynchronous.  However, it appears the CBC stages underperformed, and consequently the second stage used more fuel than expected, leading to a long first burn, a short final burn to fuel depletion, and a lower than planned final orbit of 19,027 x 36,406 km x 13.5°.  Boeing are calling this a mostly successful flight, but a typical comms payload (assuming no apogee fuel, since the Delta was meant to make the apogee burn) would have to use up almost its entire service-life fuel load to reach the target orbit.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-050A ; Boeing's News ;

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3CS-1 / Sparky Spacecraft:  3CS = Three Corner Satellite Chronologies: 2004 payload #70 ; 2004 2nd loss ; 6290th spacecraft. Type: Technology Families: Ranks: 96th amateurs/students spacecraft :; 686th failure ; Sponsor: Arizona State University, Colorado University and New Mexico State University Launch: 21 December 2004 at 21h50 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-39B, by a Delta IV Heavy. Orbit: None. Mission: 3Csat 1 and 2 were to have been dropped off at a low 180 km x 240 km orbit and were due to reenter after 2-3 days. But, because of the underperformance of the Delta-4H, they entered orbit at a height of only 105 km, which lead to a rapid decay. Also named Sparky (3CSAT 1) and Ralphie (3CSAT 2), these 15-kg nanosatellites were designed and built mostly by undergraduate students at three universities. (A third 3CSat, Petey, was not launched.) They were to fly as a secondary payload on the Space Shuttle, but has been changed to a piggy back launch on the maiden flight of the Delta-4H rocket. Their primary missions include stereoscopic imaging, formation flying, and end-to-end command and data handling.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 ; Spacewarn No. 614;

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3CS-2 / Ralphie Spacecraft:  3CS - Three Corner Satellite Chronologies: 2004 payload #71 ; 2004 3rd loss ; 6291th spacecraft. Type: Technology Families: None. Ranks: 97th amateurs/students spacecraft :  687th failure ; Sponsor: Arizona State University, Colorado University and New Mexico State University Launch: 21 December 2004 at 21h50 UTC, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's SLC-39B, by a Delta IV Heavy. Orbit: Mission: 3Csat 1 and 2 were to have been dropped off at a low 180 km x 240 km orbit and were due to reenter after 2-3 days. But, because of the underperformance of the Delta-4H, they entered orbit at a height of only 105 km, which lead to a rapid decay. Also named Sparky (3CSAT 1) and Ralphie (3CSAT 2), these 15-kg nanosatellites were designed and built mostly by undergraduate students at three universities. (A third 3CSat, Petey, was not launched.) They were to fly as a secondary payload on the Space Shuttle, but has been changed to a piggy back launch on the maiden flight of the Delta-4H rocket. Their primary missions include stereoscopic imaging, formation flying, and end-to-end command and data handling.  Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541; Spacewarn No. 614 ;

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Progress M-51 / ISS 16P Spacecraft:  Progress M (7K-TGM) No. 351 Chronologies: 2004 payload #72 ; 2004-051A ; 6292nd spacecraft. Type: Cargo delivery to the International Space Station Families: Ranks: 3435th Russian spacecraft (1056th civilian) : Sponsor: Russian's Federal Space Agency Launch: 23 December 2004 at 22h19 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC-1, by a Soyuz U. Orbit: Initial: 193.0 km x 255.1 km x 51.66° x 55.58 min. At docking: 351.6 km x 372.9 km x 51.6° x 91.5 min. Reentry 9 March 2005 Mission: The Progress M-51 transport cargo vehicle is the 16th flight of Progress cargo vehicles to the International Space Station. It carries 480 kg of propellant, 28 kg of oxygen, 21 kg of air and 420 kg of potable water in the refueling compartment. In the vehicle cargo compartment, there are about 1.35 tons of dry cargoes consisting of foods, equipments and facilities for the station onboard systems, medical equipments, underwears, personal hygiene items and individual protection gears, flight-data files, video and photo materials, parcels for the crew, structural elements, payloads, hardware and materials for space experiments.      On 25 December 2004 at 23h38 UTC, following a two-day flight, Progress M-51 docked to the International Space Station's axial docking port of the Russian Service Module Zvezda. The docking were performed in the automatic mode.  Progress M-51 was vacated from its port on 27 February 2005 at 16h06 UTc to deorbit eventually after 10 days in free orbit.      Progress M-51 undocked from the Zvezda module on 27 February 2005 at 16h06 UTC. It lowered its orbital perigee at around 18h30 UTC and remained in orbit for several days, with an engine firing dumping it in the Pacific on 9 March 2005. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541, 542 & 545; Spacewarn No. 614 & 616 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-051A ; Energiya RSC PR-24 Dec 04 & 26 Dec 04 ;

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Sich-1M Spacecraft:  Chronologies: 2004 payload #73 ; 2004-052A ; 6293rd spacecraft. Type: Earth remote sensing Families: Ranks: Sponsor: Ukraine Launch: 24 December 2004 at 11h20 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32, by a Tsiklon-3 . Orbit: Initial: 281 km x 637 km x 82.6° x 97 min. 280 km x 640 km x 82.6° Mission: SICH 1M is a 2223-kg Ukranian (or Russo-Ukrainian?) Earth surveying minisatellite that carries imaging instruments to survey the surface environment and locate natural disasters. One of the tasks of Sich-1M satellite is the support of Variant experiment - investigation of earthquake precursors. The launch took place at the same time with Demeter French microsatellite launch which main scientific task is the monitoring of active seismic phenomena in ionosphere. The concurrent observations at two points of space will create fundamentally new favorable conditions to set new tasks and to increase authenticity of the results of experiment. Within the scientific program of Demeter and Sich-1M satellite, the coordinated ground experiments and remote sensing experiments will be performed which will be coordinated by their time with the TIMEDsatellite and ground support means operation schedule.      Although the intended orbit was around 640 km circular, initial US orbital data put it in a 280 km x 640 km  orbit, suggesting that the second burn of the upper stage was a partial failure. Russian authorities have confirmed that Sich-1M did not reach its planned orbits. As the Tsiklon-3 launch vehicle’s third stage fired a second time, to raising the perigee point from 78 km to 280 km, the velocity increase was about 100 m/s too small to get to the desired 650 km circular orbit. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 & 542 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-052A ;

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MK-1TS Mikron  Spacecraft:  KS5MF2 Chronologies: 2004 payload #74 ; 2004-052C ; 6294th spacecraft. Type: Imaging Families: Ranks: 3436th Russian spacecraft (1057th civilian) Sponsor: Russo-Ukrainian Launch: 24 December 2004 at 11h20 UTC, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome's LC-32, by a Tsiklon-3  Orbit: Initial: 282 km x 636 km x 82.6° 94 mohn. 280 km x 640 km x 82.6° Mission: Mikronis a 66-kg Russo-Ukrainian Earth surveying minisatellite that carries imaging instruments to survey the surface environment and locate natural disasters. It acccies a miniature visible-band camera. The MK-1TS subsatellite was attached to Sich-1M and ejected from it on 25 December 2004 at about 21h00 UTC. Source: Jonathan Space Report No. 541 & 542 ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-052C ;

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Kosmos 2411 Spacecraft:  Uragan No. 796 Chronologies: 2004 payload #75 ; 2004-053A ; 6295th spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: Ranks: 3437th Russian spacecraft (2380th military) ;  Sponsor: Russian Ministry of Defense Launch: 26 December 2004 at 13h53 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC81/23, by a Proton-K/DM-2 (410-09 / 11S861 No. 104L). Orbit: Initial: 19,137 km x 19,145 km x 64.85° x 673 min. Mission: These three Kosmos are the latest of the Russian satellites to join the GLONASS fleet of navigational satellites, which is the Russian equivalent of the GPS system. They were placed in Slots 1, 7, and 8 of Plane 1. Two of the satellites (No 796 and 797) are standard Uragan satellites built by Polyot/Omsk. This was the 33rd launch in the GLONASS program, and the third with an Uragan-M test flight. Source: Jonathan Space Report No.542  ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-053B ;

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Kosmos 2412 Spacecraft:  Uragan No. 797 Chronologies: 2004 payload #76 ; 2004-053B ; 6296th spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: Ranks: 3438th Russian spacecraft (2381st military) ;  Sponsor: Russian Ministry of Defense Launch: 26 December 2004 at 13h53 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC81/23, by a Proton-K/DM-2 (410-09 / 11S861 No. 104L). Orbit: Initial: 19,137 km x 19,145 km x 64.85° x 673 min. Mission: These three Kosmos are the latest of the Russian satellites to join the GLONASS fleet of navigational satellites, which is the Russian equivalent of the GPS system. They were placed in Slots 1, 7, and 8 of Plane 1. Two of the satellites (No 796 and 797) are standard Uragan satellites built by Polyot/Omsk. This was the 33rd launch in the GLONASS program, and the third with an Uragan-M test flight.. Source: Jonathan Space Report No.542  ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-053C ;

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Kosmos 2413 Spacecraft:  Uragan-M No., 712 Chronologies: 2004 payload #77 ; 2004-053C ; 6297th spacecraft. Type: Navigation Families: Ranks: 3439th Russian spacecraft (2382nd military) ;  Sponsor: Russian Ministry of Defense Launch: 26 December 2004 at 13h53 UTC, from Baykonur Cosmodrome's LC81/23, by a Proton-K/DM-2 (410-09 / 11S861 No. 104L). Orbit: Initial: 19,137 km x 19,145 km x 64.85° x 673 min. Mission: These three Kosmos are the latest of the Russian satellites to join the GLONASS fleet of navigational satellites. They were placed in Slots 1, 7, and 8 of Plane 1. This spacecraft.is the Uragan-M, no. 712, with an uprated Glonass-M payload, built by Reshetnev NPO-PM/Krasnoyarsk. Source: Jonathan Space Report No.542  ; Spacewarn No. 614 ; National Space Science Data Center's 2004-053A ;