International Designator

The International Designator (also called COSPAR ID) is a unique code given to objects launched into space. It consists of the launch year, a three-digit incrementing launch number of that year.^[1] The system is named after the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).^[2] Before this system, Harvard University used Greek letters to name satellites, like Sputnik 1 was called 1957 Alpha 2.^[3] The United States Space Command assigns these designators, and both the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and NASA’s National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) keep detailed catalogs of these objects.