NASA sends new tracking and data relay satellite into space

On Wednesday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched yet another Tracking and Data Relay Satellite -- the agency’s 11th TDRS. The new satellite will be used for communications with the International Space Station and to transmit more images from the Hubble Telescope.

Presently, the new TDRS has the letter K designation (TDRS-K), but once its commences operations it will be named TDRS-11. The satellite, which was sent into orbit by ULA’s Atlas V rocket, will reach its intended 22,300-mile-high orbit in around two weeks. Once the satellite is in place, testing will begin and continue for the next few months.

NASA expects to have at least seven TDRS satellites all working simultaneously in orbit at all times. The TDRS-K makes the eighth satellite at the current time. The agency also scheduled the launch of TDRS-L next year. The very first TRDS was sent into orbit in 1983 and was recently retired along with the fourth.

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NASA’s satellite launch postponed due to an Atlas V rocket defect

The launch of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-K) of NASA has been suspended because the technicians need to replace a faulty rocket component. The launch, initially scheduled on the 29th of January at Cape Canaveral, is now set next Wednesday, January 30th at 8:48 PM.

NASA said that during tests, the Ordnance Remote Control of the Atlas V produced faulty signals before connections were made to the explosive devices used to detach the booster from the rocket’s upper stage, Centaur. Now, ULA is shipping a replacement from its manufacturing facility in Decatur, Alabama, and once the new rocket part is installed, new tests will be conducted in the rocket’s vertical processing tower.

The TDRS-K satellite constellation of NASA will promote continuous communication between the ground and spacecraft in low Earth orbit, which includes the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station. The new satellite is the first of three in an upgraded fleet built by The Boeing Co. NASA said that the first two missions will cost $715 million, including modifications to ground networks.

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