The topic COSPAR ID / USSPACECOM (NORAD) catalog(ue) numbers may be off-topic but I like to throw in my five cents... I am not too concerned about five or eight or .. places, and I too think COSPAR conveys more useful information. But to be useful, we also need the popular and efficient prediction programs and elset managers, and NASA OIG TELNET site TLE d(A)ta Base to accept COSPAR as object selection mechanism. And before the format is standardized, we also require that the above programs /bases, AND SORT PROGRAMS, contain some artificial intelligence to sort/display the objects correctly. I always request the 20 objects following the 30-day list at OIG, to get newly entered objects. This can't be done unless NORAD selection is kept (as an alternative). (snippet, with a new(?) COSPAR variant : ) Press any key to continue .... Satellite number = 24964 The latest set = 1 24964U 9755A 97269.27083333 -.00002225 10894-4 53012-5 0 22 2 24964 51.6551 298.0292 0060298 95.8874 143.5308 15.81221107 22 Press any key to continue .... SATELLITE NUMBER 24965 WAS NOT FOUND! -- --------------------------------------------------------------- -- bjorn@tt-tech.se (office) b_gimle@algonet.se (home) -- -- 59.2237N, 18.2286E, 44 m http://www.algonet.se/~b_gimle -- -- SeeSat-L / Visual Satellite Observer Home Page found at -- -- <a href="http://www.satellite.eu.org/satintro.html">http://www.satellite.eu.org/satintro.html</a><br> -- ------------------------------------------------------------