Jonathan's Space Report Sep 4 1990 (no.51) ---------------------------------------------------- STS-35/Columbia is targeted for launch Sep 6 with the Astro-1/BBXRT payload. Discovery has been mated with the STS-41 stack and will be rolled out to LC39B tonight for the Ulysses mission. Manakov and Strekalov continue in orbit aboard the Mir/Kvant/Kvant-2/Kristall/Soyuz TM-10/Progress M-4 complex. Ariane V38, launched on Aug 30, orbited the first Eutelsat II for the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization and Skynet 4C, a British military comsat. Feng Yun 2, a Chinese weather satellite, was orbited by the second Chang Zheng 4 rocket on Sep 3. Kosmos-2096 was launched on Aug 23. It is an ocean surveillance electronic intelligence satellite, tracking radio emissions from ships. Kosmos-2097, a missile early warning satellite, was launched by Molniya on Aug 29. Kosmos-2098 was launched by a Kosmos R-14 vehicle on Aug 29. It is a small satellite in an elliptical 400x2000 km orbit inclined at 83 degrees, the sixth in a series of such satellites. The purpose of these satellites is unknown but probably some kind of military technology development. It is the first launch in this series since 1983 - a gap of seven years. It is also the first August R-14 launch since 1983; in recent years as the R-14 vehicle is phased out in favour of the Tsiklon, launches have been confined to certain periods within the year. ___________________________________ |Current STS status: | |Orbiters | | | |OV-102 Columbia LC39A | |OV-103 Discovery VAB Bay 1 | |OV-104 Atlantis OPF Bay 2 | | | |ML/ET/SRB stacks | | | |ML3/STS-35/ET/OV102 LC39A | Countdown in progress |ML1/STS-38/ET VAB Bay 3 | |ML2/STS-41/ET/OV103 VAB Bay 1 | ----------------------------------- ML: Mobile launcher platform ET: External Tank (c) 1990 Jonathan McDowell `