Tdrs K Launched To Orbit By Atlas V Rocket

The new Tracking and Data Relay Satellite K (TDRS-K) was launched by NASA to orbit Wednesday evening, January 30, 2013 at 8:48 pm EST in a perfect launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket boosted the 400-million advanced next-generation satellite into an orbit 22,300 miles (35,888 kilometers), where it will now join a network of other relay spacecraft above the surface of Earth.

TDRS-K animation above Earth

The TDRS-K satellite isthe first of three new satellites to launch between now and 2015 to bolster the TDRS communications satellite network that relays data and messages between spacecraft in orbit and ground stations. The new TDRS-K satellite is the 11th spacecraft to join the TDRS network since the first TDRS satellite was launched in 1983. The most recent TDRS launch before now was more than a decade ago. Five TDRS satellites are still functioning in orbit.

Credit: lights-in-sky.blogspot.com