NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M),
which is the third and final in a series of next generation communications
satellites, has successfully been placed into orbit following separation from
an United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.
Credits: NASA
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NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M), which is the
third and final in a series of next generation communications satellites, has
successfully been placed into orbit following separation from an United Launch
Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. TDRS-M launched Friday at 8:03 a.m. EDT from the
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Ground controllers report the satellite is in good health at the
start of a four-month checkout in space by its manufacturer, Boeing. NASA will
conduct additional tests before putting TDRS-M into service early next year.
When ready, TDRS-M will become part of NASA’s Space
Network providing navigation and high-data-rate communications to the
International Space Station, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, rockets and a host
of other spacecraft.
“The TDRS fleet is a critical connection delivering science and
human spaceflight data to those who can use it here on Earth,” said Dave
Littmann, the TDRS project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland. “TDRS-M will expand the capabilities and extend the
lifespan of the Space Network, allowing us to continue receiving and
transmitting mission data well into the next decade.”
The mission of the TDRS project, established in 1973, is to
develop, launch and deliver data communications relay spacecraft to support
NASA's Space Network, which provides high-data-rate communications and accurate
navigation. The TDRS-M spacecraft is effectively identical -- in both function
and performance -- to the TDRS-K and -L spacecraft launched in 2013 and 2014,
respectively.
The TDRS fleet
began operating during the space shuttle era with the launch of TDRS-1 in 1983.
Of the TDRS spacecraft launched to date, only two have been retired
and five of the nine operational satellites have exceeded their design life and
continue to provide essential communications and navigation services.
Boeing conducted spacecraft integration and testing earlier this
year at its satellite factory in El Segundo, California. After testing and
confirming the spacecraft was ready for shipment, launch processing began
following TDRS-M’s arrival
in Florida June 23.
NASA's Space Communications and Navigation program, known as SCaN, is part
of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's
Headquarters in Washington, and is responsible for the Space Network. The TDRS
project office at Goddard manages the TDRS development program. Management of
the launch service for TDRS-M is the responsibility of NASA’s Launch Services
Program based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ULA provided the
Atlas V rocket launch service.
For more information about TDRS, visit: