Tags: NASA, United Launch Alliance, TDRS, Satellite Launch
Publication: FloridaToday.com
Publication Date: 12/18/2012

Artist rendition of TDRS-K deployed. Image credit: NASA

The next NASA communications satellite TDRS-K has arrived to Cape Canaveral to get ready for its launch scheduled for Jan. 29. It will be the first liftoff for United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket in 2013.

The TDRS-K is the first of three new-generation satellites that provide near-continuous high badwidth telecommunication services for spacecraft and rockets in LEO, such as the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.

Nine TDRS satellites have been launched to date but only seven remain operational in GEO. The oldest of these satellites was launched in 1988 and the newest was launched in 2022.

The remaining two new-generation TDRS satellites are expected to launch in 2014 and 2015.

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