6
$\begingroup$

I checked 2018-099 in Celestrak's satcat again for the question Where can I find the TLE of ExseedSat 1, India's first ever private LEO satellite? and noticed that the last object listed is 2018-099BS 43822 OBJECT BS has a source/ownership of TBD and a Orbital Status Code of NEA meaning no elements available.

What is Object BS, and how can it have an entry in the satcat without any orbital elements? Is this a lost satellite from the payload, or some bit of broken material that fell off? April 1st is a long way off...

It's the only line in 2018-099 without an * in column 21.

OBJECT BS

Please no "I suspect..." answers. If it is known please post, but for this question pure speculation doesn't count without some supporting source(s). However, a documented similar situation that was resolved could be a supporting source. Thanks!

Update: Object BS's entry in the satcat has been modified/upgraded, it shows some nominal orbital elements

2018-099BS   43822     OBJECT BS                 TBD    2018-12-03  AFWTR                 96.3   97.8     594     571     N/A   
.
|improve this question
$\endgroup$
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Er... Do you have an idea what is the "Object BQ"? And other objects called "Object X"? I'm not into sattelite tracking, but would suspect that's various debris $\endgroup$ – OON Jan 29 at 5:23
  • $\begingroup$ @OON there are still known payload objects that have not been assigned. I've linked to a question about one of them in the first sentence. So one can't simply "suspect" that every object without a name is "various debris" which is why I've asked for more than an "I suspect..." answer. I haven't found a listing of the total number of payloads for the launch yet. That would be helpful in finding out how many known payload objects are still unaccounted for eight full weeks after launch! $\endgroup$ – uhoh Jan 29 at 7:49

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.