Un-Manned Satellite Philately

Below is an index to checklists of un-manned satellite philately, either by general discipline/category of satellite, OR by specific satellite or satellite series. Our goal is to build an online catalogue for Un-Manned Satellite Philately (and  Weather Philately), available to and shared with anyone who is interested. To date there are over 100 Web pages and over 8000 images in our areas of interest. If readers know of additional information or images, please contact the authors using the e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.

Satellites Ordered by Discipline/Category	Satellites Ordered by Name or Series
"Launch" pages below feature the following: reference images launch covers, anniversary-of-launch covers, and launch-related event covers FDCs and other postal covers, only if there is no satellite-specific page in the right-hand column either stamps or links to the corresponding "stamp" pages in the right-hand column	"Stamp" pages below feature the following postal items: stamps, souvenir sheets, and miniature sheets postal stationery (aerogrammes, envelopes, and postal cards) postmarks, cancels, and meters cinderellas and postcards FDCs, souvenir cards, maxicards, and other postal covers with appropriate cancels and/or cachets banknotes and coins
Items on "launch" pages below are: grouped by satellite name or series ordered by launch date	Items on "stamp" pages below are: listed alphabetically by issuing country ordered by year of issue
Scientific/research satellites (see below for more-specific scientific/research disciplines/categories)	Explorer-1 satellite (first U.S. satellite) Explorer-series satellites (except Explorer-1) Injun, SolRad, GEOS, and ISEE series (Explorer-related series) Pioneer-series satellites (non-planetary: Pioneer-0 thru Pioneer-E) Vanguard-series satellites OGO-series satellites OSO-series satellites Alouette and ISIS series Eole-series satellites Ariel-series satellites San Marco-series satellites A-1-satellite FR-1 satellite D-series satellites Azur, Aeros, Dial-Wika, and Helios-series satellites SMM satellite Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Rohini, and Badr-series satellites Freja, Viking, and Oersted satellites Ulysses satellite SOHO satellite ESRO and HEOS series ESA-GEOS series
Polar-orbiting weather satellites	TIROS/ESSA series Nimbus-series satellites ITOS/TIROS-N/ATN/NOAA series Meteor-series satellites FY-1-series satellites Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) (and other APT-like antennas) Argos Data Collection and Location System COSPAS/SARSAT program
Geostationary weather satellites	ATS series SMS/GOES series Meteosat and MSG series GMS and MTSat series Insat, GOMS, and FY-2 series
Environmental-observing satellites	ERTS/Landsat series SPOT and IRS series ERS-series satellites ADEOS, MOS, and JERS series TOPEX-Poseidon satellite Radarsat, Envisat, SeaWiFS/SeaStar, Okean/Sich, Almaz, and ZY-1/CBERS A-train constellation: EOS-Aqua, EOS-Aura, CloudSat, CALIPSO, and PARASOL
Russian scientific/research and environmental-observing satellites	Elektron-series satellites Proton-series satellites Magion-series satellites Sputnik-3 satellite Russian propaganda-design satellite
Military weather-related and scientific/research satellites	Discoverer-series satellites
Astronomical/telescope satellites	OAO-series satellites HST satellite HEAO-series satellites IRAS
Cometary satellites	Giotto satellite
Planetary and lunar (and asteroid) satellites	Pioneer-series satellites (planetary: Pioneer-10 thru Pioneer-13) Magellan satellite Galileo satellite Cassini-Huygens satellite
Amateur (ham) radio satellites	OSCAR and RS series
Communications satellites	Echo-series satellites
Navigation satellites	Nadezhda-series satellites GPS/Navstar satellites COSPAS/SARSAT program
Space Shuttle-related satellites (launched or retrieved and repaired or recovered satellites)	Space Shuttle and un-manned satellites (both appearing together) SMM satellite HST satellite Magellan satellite Galileo satellite Ulysses satellite
	Ozone (O3) monitoring satellites Unknown and/or fantasy satellites Russian propaganda-design satellite

Supporting information for this Website:

• Master List of Names, Acronyms, Initialisms, and Abbreviations for Un-Manned Satellites
• Published Philatelic Articles by the Authors (including PDFs)
• Biographical Sketches for the Authors
• Un-Manned Satellites on Banknotes and Coins

Books and references found particularly useful:

• Caprara, Giovanni, 1986: The Complete Encyclopedia of Space Satellites, Portland House, New York NY 10003, ISBN 0-517-61776-5.
• Jane's Space Directory, 1985? ==>: Jane's Data Division, Jane's Information Group Limited, United Kingdom. [First published around 1985. Also titled Interavia Space Directory for at least one volume.]
• Johnson, Nicholas L., and David M. Rodvold, Europe and Asia in Space: 1993-1994, USAF Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117, 435 pages. [The first of two volumes. Out of print.]
• Johnson, Nicholas L., and David M. Rodvold, Europe and Asia in Space: 1991-1992, DC-TR-2191.103-1, USAF Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117, 313 pages. [The second of two volumes. Out of print.]
• Johnson, Nicholas L., 1984 thru 1991: The Soviet Year in Space: 1983 thru 1990, (8 years/issues), Teledyne Brown Engineering, Colorado Springs CO 80910. [Out of print.]
• TRW Space Log, 1997-1998: Volume 33-34, TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach CA 90278, 120 pages. [This is the last hard copy published. Out of print. Supersceded by an electronic version on the TRW Website, now also discontinued.]
• TRW Space Log, 1961 thru 1996 (numerous issues): Volume 1 thru 32, TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach CA 90278. [Out of print.]
• Turnill, Reginald, 1978: The Observer's Spaceflight Directory, Frederick Warne (Publishers) Ltd., London, ISBN 0-7232-2051-4, 384-pages.

Links to satellite databases and mission information elsewhere on the Web:

(The links below lead to information sources that are maintained by others. They are not part of this Website.)

• NSSDC: Master Spacecraft Catalog
• NASA JPL: Mission and Spacecraft Library
• NASA history: Looking at earth from space
• Astronautix.com: Encyclopedia Astronautica
• Jonathan's: Satellite catalog
• Johathan's: Names of satellites
• Cranford: International Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle Names Glossary
• CEOS: Satellite Mission Catalogue (1)
• CEOS: Satellite Mission Catalogue (2)
• Satelite.com: Satellite information site
• TBS-satellite.com: The Satellite Encyclopedia
• Czechoslovakia: Satellite/mission programs
• NASA Glenn: Un-Manned Spacecraft and Satellite Links
• Krebs: Gunter's Space Page
• Ales: Telesa (satellite launches by year)