The United Nations Registry of Space Objects

Editorial Notes

 
EN001   US space object (payload) not registered with the United Nations but
       recorded in the COSPAR Bulletin and allocated an international
       designation. Space object reentered prior to first US report to the
       United Nations.
EN002   US space object (payload) not registered with the United Nations but
       recorded in the COSPAR Bulletin and allocated an international
       designation. Object launched subsequent to the first US report to the UN.
EN003   US space object (non-functional) not registered with the United Nations
       but recorded in the COSPAR Bulletin and allocated an international
       designation. Space object reentered prior to first US report to the
       United Nations.
EN004   As EN003, but not in COSPAR Bulletin. Data taken from NASA-GSFC
         Satellite Situation Report.
EN005   United States Space Object 1961 Alpha Lambda 1 was registered as an
       object of type D (non-functional); other evidence suggests that it was
       really of type A, and so it has been included in the main list.
EN006   US Debris object not registered with the United Nations.
EN007   USSR space object not registered with the United Nations
EN008   The document swaps inclination and period for two of these objects,
        the obvious error has been corrected.
EN009   Editor's note: A/AC.105/INF.54 gives the apogee as 5620. This is
         probably a misprint for 562.0.
EN010   Editor's note: 1964-04A inclination as given in A/AC.105/INF.63 was
         85.50 deg. This was a typo for the correct 81.50 deg.
EN011   Editor's note: 1964-07A recorded in A/AC.105/INF.63 as being in
       heliocentric orbit. It was actually on a lunar impact trajectory.
EN012   Editor's note: A/AC.105/INF.104 gave the inclination as 359.86 deg; this
         is an error for 0.14 deg.
EN013   Editor's note: A/AC.105/INF.118 gave inclination as 5 deg; this is an
         error for 65 deg.
EN014   A/AC.105/INF.131: Orbit given is spurious.
EN015   A/AC.105/INF.140: 1966-40D is a typo for 1966-40B.
EN016   A/AC.105/INF.142: 1965-109C is a typo for 1965-109D.
EN017   A/AC.105/INF.155: 1966-104O, recorded as debris with the same details as
         1966-104P, is spurious and did not exist.
EN018   A/AC.105/INF.174: 1967-26D, registered in a 605 x 623 km x 56.1 deg
       orbit, is spurious. It is a mistake for 1967-27D which is a USSR debris
       object not registered with the UN.
EN019   A/AC.105/INF.187: 1968-02A registered as category D, but is actually a
         category B object.
EN020   A/AC.105/INF.192: Cosmos 221 perigee was given as 22 km, this is a typo
         for 220 km.
EN021   Orbit given was 163.3 min, 188 x 500 km x 84.6 deg. This orbit is
         clearly spurious.
EN022   A/AC.105/INF.45: 1962 Beta Tau 2 recorded as no longer in orbit on 1963
         Jul 15. This should have read 1962 Beta Tau 3.
EN023   Object, registered by the United States, is a Canadian payload.
EN024   Object is an Apollo Lunar Module. Although registered as category D,
         should really be category A.
EN025   Object, registered by the United Stages, is actually an ESRO payload.
EN026   Editor's note: A/AC.105/INF.216 incorrectly reported the decay of
         1969-51A in the period ending 1969 May 31.
EN027   Object, registered by the United States, was a payload for the Federal
         Republic of Germany.
EN028   Object, registered by the United States, is a United Kingdom payload.
EN029   A/AC.105/INF.223: Orbital data given for 1970-21A were 1401.6 min, 40807
       x 42164 km x 2.8 deg. The semimajor axis and orbital period are
       inconsistent with Kepler's third Law. It appears that distances from
       the center of the Earth instead of heights above the surface were used; a
       reasonable orbit is obtained by subtracting the Earth radius of 6378 km
       from apogee and perigee, and I have used that result in the table.
EN030   Space object launched by the People's Republic of China and not
         registered with the United Nations.
EN031  The registration document for USSR launches number 439 to 449 appears to
       have been omitted from the A/AC.105/INF series. The information tabulated
       has been taken from the COSPAR Bulletin.
EN032  1971-00A is actually 1962 B Lambda 2. 00B is 1964-86B. 00C is 1964-86C.
EN033  A/AC.105/INF.234: The orbital data for Cosmos 421 and 424 were
       erroneously repeated for Mars 2 and Mars 3, which should not have been
       given any orbital data.
EN034  1971-91A is debris from the Delta rocket which failed to place its
       payload in orbit. I have included this category D (non-functional) object
       in Table 1 since the RAE tables suggest that the object is the
       Delta rocket itself, and rocket stages for launch vehicle tests (e.g.
       Saturn and Centaur) have been counted as payloads. Further, this avoids a
       confusing gap in the table.
EN035  A/AC.105/INF.280 registered object "1969-27KH", an error for 1969-82KH.
EN036  A/AC.105/INF.291 registered 1973-100D as an object of category C.
       External evidence strongly suggests that it was actually of category D,
       and hence is included in Table 2.
EN037  A/AC.105/INF.227 registered this object as 1963-38H. It was later
       redesignated 1963-49K but this was not noted in the UN reports.
EN038  A/AC.105/INF.295 registered this object as 1963-384. This was a typo for
         1963-38H.
EN039  A/AC.105/INF.295: Apogee was given erroneously as 4.7 km.
EN040  A/AC.105/INF.298: The English version of this document incorrectly
         transliterated the name as Molniya-1C.
EN041  A/AC.105/INF.339 contained the cryptic information: "Supplemental
       information - DAD-A/B". This was expanded on A/AC.105/INF.342 to "The
       following object was launched since the previous report but
       did not achieve orbit - DAD-A/B". This is an allusion
       to the launch failure of the DAD-A/B satellites, and to be consistent
       with earlier data on launch failures should have read - Object failed to
       achieve orbit: 1975 Dec 5, Scout, Category B.
EN042  Category given as C; should be category D. 1977-118A, not registered by
       the US, would have qualified as category C.
EN043  Name erroneously given as Soyuz 21.
EN044  ST/SG/SER.E/7: Orbit given as 591.75 min, 6560 x 40137 km x 27.8 deg.
       Inconsistent with Kepler's third law. I have given values which assume
       that the compilers of the UN submission forgot to subtract off the
       Earth radius of 6378 km from the perigee and apogee heights; this gives a
       consistent orbit.
EN045  ST/SG/SER.E/7 gives orbit as 720.0 min, 805 x 34272 km x 63.5 deg. This
       is inconsistent with Kepler's third law. I have been unable to find a
       simple error which could have generated these parameters from
       a sensible orbit. The given orbit heights correspond to a period of 613.5
       min rather than 720.0 min. If the apogee only were in error, the orbit
       would be 805 x 39681 km. I have replaced these parameters in Table 1 with
       the orbit parameters given in SER.E/7 for the rocket body, 1978-21B.
EN046  Registered in ST/SG/SER.E/47 as 1965-27C - a typo for 1965-27G.
EN047  Category given as D, but carries a payload - should have been designated
         as category A, B or C.
EN048  ST/SG/SER.E/11: Orbit given as 615.5 min, 6528 x 41411 km x 28.4 deg.
       Inconsistent with Kepler's third law. I have given values which assume
       that the compilers of the UN submission forgot to subtract off the
       Earth radius of 6378 km from the perigee and apogee heights; this gives a
       consistent orbit.
EN049  ST/SG/SER.E/16 - Orbit given as 101.3 min, 17 x 146 km, which is
       impossible. Other sources indicate that a decimal point has slipped in
       the heights, which should be about 170 x 1460 km.
EN050  ST/SG/SER.E/16 - Registered as 1978-78B, should have been 1978-78C.
EN051  ST/SG/SER.E/16 - Apogee of 1978-79A was given as 108920 km, but should
         have read 1089200 km.
EN052  ST/SG/SER.E/19 - 1978-93A orbital heights were given as 86 x 10825 km.
       These values were actually nautical miles (to be consistent with the
       orbital period) and I have multiplied them by 1.852.
EN053  ST/SG/SER.E/40 - 1966-96C orbit given as 597.7 min, 33889 x 35783 km x
         17.8 deg. This orbit is impossible.
EN054  The four Pioneer Venus Probes, which impacted Venus on 1978 Dec 9, were
       registered in ST/SG/SER.E/47. The only information given for each was the
       international designation, the launch date, and the fact that they were
       no longer in orbit on 31 Dec 1980.
EN055  Minor typo corrected in orbital parameters.
EN056  First satellite in this group of 8 given in report as Cosmos-1308, an
         error for Cosmos-1320.
EN057  Typo in ST/SG/SER.E/77: registered as 1976-32K instead of 1976-23K.
EN058  Registered as category D (non-functional) object, but external sources
         suggest the object is a payload.
EN059  Apogee given as 2.7 km, which is a typo.
EN060  Registered under an incorrect international designation (typographical
         error in document).
EN061  Orbital heights given in ST/SG/SER.E document are in error - they
       conflict with the orbital period. I have subtracted off the Earth radius
       of 6378 km to give a consistent orbit.
EN062  Debris from Zenit rocket test launch. No payload was orbited. Not
         registered by the USSR.
EN063  Orbital period is incorrect - ST/SG/SER.E/141 gives it as 639.8, which
       was the orbital period in the transfer orbit, while the orbital heights
       given are for the final orbit.
EN064  ST/SG/SER.E/194 gave entirely spurious orbital data for 1988-18A and
       1988-26B: the orbits for 1988-06A and 1988-06B were given instead of the
       correct orbits.
EN065  The launch vehicle given is incorrect.
EN066  ST/SG/SER.E/208: Orbital period inconsistent with heights. Correct
       orbital period for quoted heights would be 261 min, not 99.8 min. Correct
       apogee with 99.8 min period and 151 km perigee would be around 1300 km.
EN067  Orbital period given is incorrect; perigee and apogee heights are
       consistent with external information, and correspond to a larger orbital
       period. Alternate decay info: Prior to 1994 Jul 31, in ST/SG/SER.E/278.
EN068  JCSAT-2 launch vehicle is really Titan III; MUSES-A launch site is really
         KAG.
EN069  ST/SG/SER.E/250: Orbit given for 1990-90D in the registration document
       really applies to 1990-93B. 1990-90D is in heliocentric orbit.
EN070  ST/SG/SER.E/260: Registered as launched from the territory of the United States; 
       launch was actually from French territory, as correctly noted in the
       later French registration in ST/SG/SER.E/287.
EN071  Satellite not registered with the UN; belongs to INMARSAT, an
       international organization with headquarters in the UK.
       In ST/SG/SER.E/417/Rev.1, the UK provided details of these satellites and
       acknowledged that INMARSAT was headquarted in the UK, but explicitly
       denied that it was the state of registry for these satellites under
       Res. 2777 (XXVI), Res 3235 (XXIX), etc. Nevertheless it is hard to see
       what the state of registry for these satellites should be, if not the UK;
       I have assigned responsiblity to the state providing launch services.
EN072  Orbit is spurious.
EN073  Inclination is spurious.
EN074  1975-52B exploded into many fragments (1975-52D onwards). Many of the
       orbits tabulated for these fragments in ST/SG/SER.E/258 are clearly
       corrupted, but are presented here anyway.
EN075  Registered as category B, but really category D. Orbital period for
         1991-54E is incorrect.
EN076  ST/SG/SER.E/258 quotes an orbit of 113.9 min, 1399 x 1427 km x 82.6 deg
       for the US military satellite 1991-76C. This orbit actually belongs to
       the USSR satellite Cosmos-2165 (1991-77A).
EN077  This satellite was re-registered in ST/SG/SER.E/258 with the erroneous
       designation 1992-15B and orbital data 93.9 min, 450 x 483 km x 43.1 deg.
EN078  Orbital period calculated from orbit heights. Period tabulated was 133.6
         min, a factor of 100 too low.
EN079  ST/SG/SER.E/262 gives the name of the satellite as Resurs-300, but this
         is an obvious typographical error.
EN080  Orbital period is spurious.
EN081  ST/SG/SER.E/275 gives the name of the satellite as Cosmos-TM-17, but this
         is an error for Soyuz TM-17.
EN082  Orbital heights are spurious and probably refer to 1995-01A which was
       omitted from the registry. Orbital period and inclination, however, are
       correct.
EN083  The German/Japanese EXPRESS satellite is believed to have completed
       several orbits before reentry, but was not allocated an international
       designation or a US Space Command catalog number.
EN084  ST/SG/SER.E/287 gives name as SPOT. This is incorrect; name is S80/T.
EN085  ST/SG/SER.E/300 gives international designation as 1994-056A, which
       is incorrect. State of registry changed from UK to China with effect from 1 Jul 1997.
EN086  ST/SG/SER.E/301 gives 'general function' as 'Spent boosters, ...
       non-functional objects'. This is incorrect, the object is a communications
       satellite payload.
EN087  State of registry changed from UK to China with effect from 1 Jul 1997.
EN088  Orbital data for 1995-060A and B are spurious - period and height disagree.
       Period and inclination refer to the transfer orbit, while apogee and perigee
       refer to operational orbit which has a period about 1436 min and inclination
       close to zero.
EN089  SAC-B (Argentina), HETE (USA) and the final rocket stage remained attached.
       Argentina cataloged SAC-B; USA cataloged the object as a debris object,
       but should have cataloged HETE, so it is included in the main table.
EN090  ACE, in solar orbit. No orbit or description given in registration data.
       Description added in ST/SG/SER.E/339.
EN091  Orbital data are for lunar orbit.
EN092  Originally registered as category D (non-functional) object, but external 
       sources suggest the object is a payload. Registration corrected in  
       ST/SG/SER.E/353.
EN093  Zarya is an American-owned space station module built and launched
       by Russia. In Russia's registration data in ST/SG/SER.E/354, Zarya is
       noted as 'American registration'. However, the United States
       erroneously omitted Zarya from its registration submission.
EN094  Spurious orbital data registered for 1999-03A.
EN095  Incorrectly registered with launch date 9 Aug 2000 in ST/SG/SER.E/375.
EN096  Also incorrectly registered by US in ST/SG/SER.E/385; really a Swedish satellite.
EN097  Registered by USA in ST/SG/SER.E/385. First
       registered by UK in ST/SG/SER.E/378 but retracted in ST/SG/SER.E/389
       since the launch was procured by GE Americom in the USA.
EN098  Perigee is spurious, probably a typo for 36432 km. (ST/SG/SER.E/384).
EN099  Also registered by the US in ST/SG/SER.E/400.
EN100  Also registered by the US in ST/SG/SER.E/412.
EN101  Also registered by ESA in ST/SG/SER.E/432
EN102  Orbital data for 2007-41A and 2007-41B were swapped. Data for 41A should read 94.4 min 482 x 496 km x 97.5.
EN103  Spurious orbital data; spacecraft was on Earth escape trajectory.
EN104  Orbital data given in registration document is erroneously measured from Earth center.
EN105  Registered by the UK in ST/SG/SER.E/554 and the US in ST/SG/SER.E/514.
EN106  Orbit module mentioned but not designated separately in registration document.
EN107  Originally registered by the US in ST/SG/SER.E/412. Satellite was jointly owned by US and France.
EN108  FASAT-A registered by Chile in ST/SG/SER.E/660. Satellite remained attached to Sich-1 in orbit.
EN109  Apogee/perigee given in registration document are erroneously measured from Earth center rather than surface.
EN110  China registration of this satellite in SER.E/649 noted that Nigeria is also a launching state for it.
EN111  Astra 3B first registered by UK; also later registered by Luxembourg in A/AC.105/INF/426
EN112  US space object (payload) not initially registered with the United Nations but
       recorded in the COSPAR Bulletin and allocated an international
       designation. Object launched subsequent to the first US report to the UN.
       Object was belatedly registered in 2013, but without any orbital data being provided.
EN113  Quetzsat was registered by both Mexico and the UK (SER.E/690).