The launch of NROL-101 from Cape Canaveral has been delayed to 2020 Nov 13 at 22:24 UTC. The launch vehicle is Atlas V-531 with a medium length fairing. https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/11/02/atlas-5-nrol-101-av-090-mission-status-center/ The NOTAMs reveal that the target orbit is high inclination. I estimate at least a 57 degree parking orbit, perhaps a few degrees higher. The launch time has regressed 4.5 min/d on average since Nov 3, which is consistent with a planar launch window of a Molniya orbit. I speculate that the payload is a 4th generation SDS relay satellite, as discussed in an earlier message: http://satobs.org/seesat/Nov-2020/0021.html Marco Langbroek's pre-flight estimated elements are available here: http://launchtower.langbroek.org/ Here are mine, based on the above launch time: Parking 209 X 262 km 1 78301U 78301A 20318.98164352 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 03 2 78301 60.0091 297.1615 0040000 106.8858 180.0000 16.14000000 09 MECO2 258 X 16775 km 1 78302U 78302A 20318.98164352 .00010087 00000-0 10000-2 0 04 2 78302 60.0097 297.1623 5544404 286.8848 0.0033 4.77567019 06 Parking 191 X 795 km 1 78303U 78303A 20318.97928241 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 01 2 78303 62.5000 298.2830 0439500 90.0105 180.0266 15.23880000 04 MECO2 727 X 38378 km 1 78304U 78304A 20318.97928241 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 03 2 78304 62.5000 298.2830 7260000 266.0000 0.5000 2.07900000 01 The epoch of these TLEs is close to the time of MECO2. TLEs 78301 and 78302 are based on the orbits we determined from our optical and radio tracking of the SDS 3-4 launch in December 2007. The launch vehicle was Atlas V-401. TLEs 78303 and 78304 are based on the orbits I estimated for SDS 2-5, launched in January 1998 on an Atlas 2A rocket. It is the only Molniya SDS launched from Cape Canaveral, that the upper stage inserted into nearly its final 2.006 rev/d orbit. The LEO parking orbit is derived from the partial elements reported to the U.N. The MECO2 orbit is estimated from the known elements of the Centaur, after numerical propagation to the day of launch. Happy hunting! Ted Molczan _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-lReceived on Fri Nov 13 2020 - 14:43:28 UTC
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