NORAD has found AO-40 to be in one piece.

From ANS...


The radar cross section was as expected with no other pieces found nearby. This should end speculation of an explosion as NORAD found only one object with a radar cross section that was consistent with a satellite the size of AO-40.



The command station team is continuing recovery operations.



AMSAT-NA's N2WWD provided ANS the following preliminary Keplerian elements based on a single radar pass. More accurate orbital elements should follow from NORAD in the near future -- following a second radar pass that should provide time and geometric distribution of the tracking data.



AO-40

1 26609U 00072B 00352.42798611 .00000000 00000-0 00000-0 0 115

2 26609 6.3033 237.3129 8126708 194.7923 102.4478 1.27093349 581

Satellite: AO-40

Catalog number: 26609

Epoch time: 00352.42798611

Element set: 11

Inclination: 6.3033 deg

RA of node: 237.3129 deg

Eccentricity: 0.8126708

Arg of perigee: 194.7923 deg

Mean anomaly: 102.4478 deg

Mean motion: 1.27093349 rev/day

Decay rate: 0.00000e+00 rev/day^2

Epoch rev: 58

Checksum: 266