CASTOR SATELLITE CATALOGUE

CSC

As with all scientific endeavours, there exist some significant milestones that mark their progress along the way. Here are some of the more meaningful milestones for CASTOR's Satellite Catalogue.


CASTOR # TIME AND DATE (UTC)

MILESTONE DESCRIPTION
  hh:mm:ss - mm/dd/yy  
0001 22:14:39 - 01/02/07 The CASTOR Satellite Catalogue was born with its first entry: The old Soviet satellite Cosmos 1674 (NORAD #15944).
0026 22:21:00 - 01/03/07 The International Space Station (NORAD #25544) becomes the 26th catalogue entry.
0141 10:16:16 - 01/25/07 CASTOR detects its first piece of the Fengyun 1C satellite debris field (NORAD #29933). This debris was caused by the Chinese destruction of its Fengyun 1C weather satellite via an anti-satellite missile test.
0143 10:43:28 - 01/25/07 CASTOR detects its first Unknown (uncorrelated) satellite.
0237 00:20:47 - 02/11/07 CASTOR detects the Iridium 33 satellite (NORAD #24946) nearly two years before its collision with the Russian satellite Cosmos 2251.
0447 10:12:25 - 03/24/07 CASTOR detects what is left of the Chinese Fengyun 1C weather satellite (NORAD #25730).
0466 02:55:41 - 03/31/07 CASTOR detects Telstar 1 (NORAD #00340): the first transatlantic television broadcasting satellite.
0467 03:09:41 - 03/31/07 CASTOR detects Giove A (NORAD #28922): the first European GPS satellite.
0500 03:35:21 - 04/19/07 The 500th satellite in the catalogue was detected: the American GPS satellite NavStar 25 (USA 80) (NORAD #21930).
0534 01:54:16 - 04/20/07 CASTOR detects the Cosmos 2251 satellite (NORAD #22675) nearly two years before its collision with the active American satellite Iridium 33.
0575 02:23:12 - 04/23/07 CASTOR detects a piece of Westford Needles (NORAD #02364).
0604 03:05:51 - 05/01/07 CASTOR detects Telstar 2 (A-41) (NORAD #00573).
0609 03:44:11 - 05/01/07 CASTOR detects the Canadian satellite ISIS 1 (NORAD #03669).
0636 05:53:31 - 05/01/07 CASTOR detects the old Soviet satellite Molniya 3-39 (NORAD #20813): the first tumbling satellite visually observed form the Royal Military College (RMC).
0731 06:39:31 - 05/05/07 CASTOR detects the old Soviet satellite Molniya 1-75 (NORAD #19807), the most intensely studied Molniya-type satellite at the Royal Military College (RMC).
0780 03:44:06 - 05/08/07 CASTOR detects the first Chinese GPS satellite Beidou M1 (NORAD #31115).
0942 03:51:06 - 06/12/07 CASTOR detects the dead satellite Telstar 401 (NORAD # 22927), the satellite that totally lost all power within the geostationary belt in January 1997.
0976 03:39:16 - 06/13/07 CASTOR detects NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) (NORAD #25867).
0978 04:37:00 - 06/13/07 CASTOR detects the Soviet X-Ray observatory ASTRON (NORAD #13901). To the present day, this satellite is the furthest man-made object that CASTOR has detected: 196,000 km in range, about half way to the Moon.
1000 04:32:36 - 06/14/07 The 1000th satellite in the catalogue was detected: the American geosynchronous satellite Galaxy 15 (NORAD #28884).
1015 05:44:41 - 06/14/07 CASTOR detects the old Soviet satellite Molniya 3-10 (NORAD #11057): a Molniya-type satellite studied by the Royal Military College (RMC).
1020 01:20:45 - 06/21/07 CASTOR detects the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-117) (NORAD #31600).
1034 06:17:06 - 07/02/07 CASTOR detects NavStar 1 (OPS 5111) (NORAD #10684): the first in-service American GPS satellite.
1072 03:41:21 - 07/03/07 CASTOR detects the Anik E1 satellite (NORAD #21726). In January 1994, this satellite (along with its cousin Anik E2) malfunctioned, causing panic amongst the telecommunication services in Canada. Both satellites were restored within several days and continued to function for over a decade after the incident, finally proving that satellite communications could be competently maintained.
1170 06:45:00 - 07/16/07 CASTOR detects Canadian satellite Anik A1 (Telesat 1) (NORAD #06278): the first domestic geostationary satellite in the world.
1179 07:04:55 - 07/16/07 CASTOR detects the Anik E2 satellite (NORAD #21222). In January 1994, this satellite (along with its cousin Anik E1) malfunctioned, causing panic amongst the telecommunication services in Canada. Both satellites were restored within several days and continued to function for over a decade after the incident, finally proving that satellite communications could be competently maintained.
1409 04:48:50 - 08/14/07 CASTOR detects a second piece of Westford Needles (NORAD #00702).
1454 08:08:30 - 08/14/07 CASTOR detects the Celestis 2 capsule (Ad-Astra flight) (NORAD #25160) which contains cremated remains.
1475 01:31:06 - 08/21/07 CASTOR detects the Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-118) (NORAD #32008).
1500 09:30:57 - 09/02/07 The 1500th satellite in the catalogue was detected: the American communications satellite Iridium 12 (NORAD #24837).
1719 05:09:25 - 10/05/07 CASTOR detects IntelSat 2-F1 (Blue Bird) (NORAD #02514) the second of three geosynchronous telecommunications satellite that was used to broadcast the "Our World" program in 1967. The two other satellites were IntelSat 1-F1 (Early Bird) and ATS-1.
1824 02:29:16 - 10/26/07 CASTOR detects the AsiaSat 3 (HGS-1) (NORAD #25126) satellite: the first geosynchronous satellite that was rescued from being stranded in a geostationary transfer orbit by intricate manoeuvring involving the Moon's gravitation.
1957 23:45:16 - 11/13/07 CASTOR detects a Soviet-era SL-14 rocket (NORAD #18794). Although this does not sound like a milestone, this satellite marked the fulfillment  of a goal originally set by CASTOR to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sputnik 1 by detecting and tracking 1,957 individual satellites.
1982 22:29:16 - 11/18/07 CASTOR detects the Canadian satellite RadarSat 1 (NORAD #23710): Canada's first synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite.
2000 01:46:55 - 11/19/07 The 2000th satellite in the catalogue was detected: the Japanese satellite CS 3B (NORAD #19508).
2019 22:01:19 - 12/10/07 CASTOR detects NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) (NORAD #20322): the first satellite that verified the theorized background radiation temperature of the universe after the Big Bang (2.5 Kelvin).
2053 01:05:01 - 11/03/07 CASTOR detects the final satellite of 2007: Cosmos 2146 (NORAD #21302). This satellite was detected later in an older image.
2074 22:25:43 - 01/01/09 CASTOR detects the Canadian RadarSat 2 satellite (NORAD #32382).
2239 00:31:29 - 03/20/09 CASTOR detects one of thousands of pieces of Iridium 33 debris (NORAD #34078) created by the Iridium 33 / Cosmos 2251 collision of February 10, 2009.
2280 01:19:11 - 04/01/09 CASTOR detects Venezuela's first satellite VeneSat-1 (Simon Bolivar) (NORAD #33414).
2286 01:48:16 - 04/01/09 CASTOR detects the Canadian CTS satellite (Hermes) (NORAD #08585) the worlds first Direct-to-Home broadcasting satellite. This satellite helped to pave the way for the modern satellite television infrastructure we enjoy today.
2500 02:08:16 - 05/21/09 The 2500th satellite in the catalogue was detected: the German Rubin 4 (NORAD #27940).
2708 03:50:01 - 08/13/09 CASTOR detects the HIPPARCOS satellite (NORAD #20169).
2784 04:03:11 - 08/25/09 CASTOR detects the first Sea Launch Demo satellite (NORAD #25661).
3000 23:35:11 - 10/10/09 The 3000th satellite in the catalogue was detected: an American Delta 2 rocket (NORAD #24809).
3031 00:45:42 - 10/19/09 CASTOR detects Canada's first satellite: Alouette 1 (S-27) (NORAD #00424).
3035 23:09:36 - 10/25/09 CASTOR detects the Celestis 3 capsule (Millennial flight) (NORAD #26034) which contains cremated remains.
3053 03:45:50 - 10/26/09 CASTOR detects the 1000th satellite of 2009: Unknown 080304, thus fulfilling its goal of 1000 satellites for the International Year of Astronomy (IYA).
3141 23:44:42 - 12/18/09 CASTOR detects a second piece of the Fengyun 1C satellite debris field (NORAD #30004). This debris was caused by the Chinese destruction of its Fengyun 1C weather satellite via an anti-satellite missile test.
3153 23:54:03 - 12/29/09 CASTOR detects its final satellite of 2009: Iridium 19 (NORAD #24965).
3325 03:38:40 - 06/29/10 CASTOR detects Sinah 1 (NORAD #28893): the first Iranian satellite.
3500 23:33:28 - 11/29/10 The 3500th satellite in the catalogue was detected: Iridium 2 (NORAD #25527).
3762 06:14:16 - 06/02/11 CASTOR detects Canada's second satellite in orbit: Alouette 2 (NORAD #01804).
3819 02:52:21 - 06/27/11 CASTOR detects the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) (NORAD #23851).
3856 06:58:40 - 06/27/11 CASTOR detects the Canadian ISIS 2 satellite (NORAD #05104).
3914 06:11:01 - 06/30/11 CASTOR detects a second piece of Iridium 33 Debris (NORAD #33773) from the collision with Cosmos 2251.
3971 08:17:40 - 07/05/11 CASTOR detects the Hubble Space Telescope (NORAD #20580) for the first time.
3981 02:28:11 - 07/26/11 CASTOR detects one of the oldest satellites in orbit: Explorer 7 (NORAD #00022), launched on October 13, 1959 (two years after Sputnik 1).
4000 03:52:51 - 07/26/11 The 4000th satellite in the catalogue was detected: NOAA 11 Debris (NORAD #37241).
4056 03:52:51 - 07/26/11 The first CSC catalogued satellite detected by radio: Prism (NORAD #33493).


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CASTOR Satellite Catalogue Milestones Was Last Modified On August 19, 2013