TDRS: Continuing The Fleet
January 29, 2013
NASA is preparing to launch the first in a series of three third generation advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, known as TDRS-K. This latest addition to the fleet of seven will augment a space communications network that provides the critical path for high data-rate communication to the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, past shuttle missions and a host of other spacecraft.
It has been 10 years since NASA last launched a TDRS. This launch is the beginning of a welcome replenishment to the space network, which has served numerous national and international space missions since 1983.
credit: NASA
Topics:
Technology Internet, Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, Spacecraft, Spaceflight, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, TDRS-8, TDRS-3, Hubble Space Telescope, space network
