Rocket blasts off with NASA communications satellite

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Source: Reuters

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(Reuters) - An unmanned rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday to put the newest member of NASA's space communications network into orbit. The 19-story tall Atlas 5 rocket, built and launched by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, lifted off at 9:33 p.m. EST (0233 GMT Friday).

With the 3.8-ton (3,447-kg) Boeing-built Tracking and Data Relay Satellite perched on its nose, the rocket blazed through clear, star-filled skies as it headed southeast over the Atlantic Ocean toward orbit. The satellite, called TDRS, is the 12th built for a NASA constellation that circles more than 22,300 miles above Earth. The satellites are strategically positioned over the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans where they can continuously track and communicate with the space station and dozens of other fast-moving spacecraft some 22,000 miles below.

"This capability is analogous to standing at the top of the Empire State Building and tracking an ant as it marches its way down the sidewalk in front of the building," Boeing program director Andy Kopito told reporters during a prelaunch press conference at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday. Eight members of the network currently remain in orbit. Two have been decommissioned and were incinerated as they fell back into Earth's atmosphere. A third satellite was destroyed in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger accident.

NASA ordered a 13th and final TDRS satellite to ensure the network can operate through 2030. By then, NASA expects to transition to laser communications and other upgrades that will significantly boost capability and cut costs, said NASA deputy associate administrator Badri Younes. NASA paid a combined $715 million for the TDRS satellite launched on Thursday and its predecessor, launched in January 2013, Younes said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/24/us-space-launch-idUSBREA0N07T20140124

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1. By 2030, NASA expects to transition to laser communications

NASA ordered a 13th and final TDRS satellite to ensure the network can operate through 2030. By then, NASA expects to transition to laser communications and other upgrades that will significantly boost capability and cut costs, said NASA deputy associate administrator Badri Younes.