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, since these checklists were started in 2001, there are over 140 pages and over 12,000 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.

Unsure where to start? Check the Master List of Names, Acronyms, Initialisms, and Abbreviations for Un-Manned Satellites.

Satellites Arranged by Discipline/Category	Satellites Arranged by Name or Series (These columns contain expanded information on a subset of all the satellites covered in the left-most column)
Launch-oriented pages below feature the following: satellite reference images launch covers and launch-related covers, only if there is no satellite-specific page in the middle column stamps and other non-launch-related postal items, only if there is no satellite-specific page in the right-most column	Cover-oriented pages below feature the following: launch covers anniversary-of-launch covers launch-related event covers	Stamp-oriented pages below feature the following non-launch-related 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 the pages below are ordered or grouped as follows:
grouped by satellite name or series then ordered by launch date	ordered by launch date then alphabetically by issuing country	listed alphabetically by issuing country then ordered by year of issue
Scientific/research satellites (see below for more-specific 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 — 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	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 — 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 and FY-3 series satellites	TIROS/ESSA series Nimbus-series satellites ITOS/TIROS-N/ATN (NOAA) series Meteor-series satellites FY-1 and FY-3 series satellites
	Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) (and other APT-like antennas) Argos Data Collection and Location System (and DCS on geostationary satellites) COSPAS/SARSAT program
Geostationary weather satellites	ATS series SMS/GOES series Meteosat and MSG series GMS and MTSat series Insat and GOMS series FY-2 series	ATS series SMS/GOES series Meteosat and MSG series GMS and MTSat series Insat and GOMS series 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, Okean, Sich, Almaz, ZY-1/CBERS (and other non-U.S. environmental-observing satellites) A-train constellation satellites: EOS-Aqua, EOS-Aura, CloudSat, CALIPSO, PARASOL, and OCO ERBS, UARS, SeaWiFS/SeaStar, and QuickBird	ERTS/Landsat series SPOT and IRS series ERS-series satellites ADEOS, MOS, and JERS series TOPEX-Poseidon satellite Radarsat, Envisat, Okean, Sich, Almaz, ZY-1/CBERS (and other non-U.S. environmental-observing satellites) A-train constellation satellites: EOS-Aqua, EOS-Aura, CloudSat, CALIPSO, PARASOL, and OCO ERBS, UARS, SeaWiFS/SeaStar, and QuickBird
Russian scientific/research and environmental-observing satellites	Elektron-series satellites Proton-series satellites Magion-series satellites Sputnik-3 satellite ARCAD/Aureole/Oreol-series satellites Interkosmos-series satellites Kosmos-series satellites Russian propaganda-design satellite	Elektron-series satellites Proton-series satellites Magion-series satellites Sputnik-3 satellite ARCAD/Aureole/Oreol-series satellites Interkosmos-series satellites Kosmos-series satellites Russian propaganda-design satellite
Military weather-related and scientific/research satellites	Discoverer-series satellites	Discoverer-series satellites
Astronomical/telescope satellites	OAO-series satellites Hubble / HST satellite HEAO-series satellites IRAS Chandra / CXO satellite XMM / Newton satellite	OAO-series satellites Hubble / HST satellite HEAO-series satellites IRAS Chandra / CXO satellite XMM / Newton satellite
Cometary satellites	Giotto satellite Planet-series satellites Vega-series satellites	Giotto satellite Planet-series satellites Vega-series satellites
Planetary and lunar (and asteroid) satellites	Pioneer-series satellites (planetary: Pioneer-10 — Pioneer-13) Magellan satellite Galileo satellite Cassini-Huygens satellite	Pioneer-series satellites (planetary: Pioneer-10 — Pioneer-13) Magellan satellite Galileo satellite Cassini-Huygens satellite
Amateur (ham) radio satellites	OSCAR and RS series	OSCAR and RS series
Communications satellites	Echo-series satellites Molniya-series satellites	Echo-series satellites Molniya-series satellites
Navigation satellites	Nadezhda-series satellites GPS/Navstar-series satellites (and other navigation-constellation satellites)	Nadezhda-series satellites GPS/Navstar-series satellites (and other navigation-constellation satellites)
Space Shuttle-related satellites (launched, or retrieved and repaired, or recovered satellites)	SMM satellite Hubble / HST satellite Magellan satellite Galileo satellite Ulysses satellite Chandra / CXO satellite	SMM satellite Hubble / HST satellite Magellan satellite Galileo satellite Ulysses satellite Chandra / CXO satellite
	Space Shuttle and un-manned satellites (both appearing together)
Miscellaneous topics		Ozone (O₃) monitoring satellites Unknown and/or fantasy satellites
Total: 13 disciplines/categories	Total: 74 names/series/groups

Supporting information for this Website:

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 — 1991: The Soviet Year in Space: 1983 — 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. Superseded by an electronic version on the TRW Website, now also discontinued.]
TRW Space Log, 1961 — 1996 (numerous issues): Volume 1 — 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.)

Copyright © 2001-2008, Colorado State University. All rights reserved.
This Website created and maintained by Don Hillger and Garry Toth.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following to the information on this Website: Gert Meinl, Harry Reynolds, Jim Reichman (Russian New Years Study Report, 2005), Randall Thompson, Yuri Kvasnikov (Russian Cosmonautics on Postage Stamps issued via ASSS in 1999), Jerry Mortimore (Ariel), Jim Rose (Discoverer), Steve Durst (Discoverer and Explorer), and Robert Schorry (ISEE).
Some of the reference images of satellites were obtained with permission from either the NSSDC Master Catalog of Spacecraft or Gunter Krebs' Space Page.
Updated: 2008-11-19