Atlas V rocket launches NASA satellite from Cape Canaveral

A last-of-its-kind NASA satellite is poised to join a network providing vital communications links to the ground for astronauts and dozens of science missions.

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite known as TDRS-M blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop an Atlas V rocket at 8:29 a.m. Friday.

The 19-story United Launch Alliance rocket deployed the spacecraft about two hours later, sending it on its way to an orbit more than 22,000 miles over the equator.

“A great day for the team,” said Tim Dunn, the NASA launch director.

[Atlas V rocket launch: NASA satellite ready for rendezvous with siblings]

[SpaceX launches NASA cargo to ISS, lands Falcon 9 at Cape]

The 7,600-pound satellite, worth $408 million, is the last in a series of three launched since 2013, each built by Boeing and designed to last at least 15 years.

By the time it enters service early next year, renamed TDRS-13, the satellite will help refresh an aging network that includes spacecraft launched more than 20 years ago, adding bandwidth and increasing its speed.

The TDRS system (pronounced “TEE-driss”) first launched in 1983 with launches aboard the space shuttle. It continues to play an essential role in human spaceflight, supporting continuous communication between the International Space Station and Mission Control.

Using six active satellites and one spare, the network does everything from sending up operational commands to beaming down science data to making it possible for astronauts away from home for six months or more to see their families on video conferences.

“TDRS is our lifeline to Earth when we’re in space,” NASA astronaut Nicole Mann told an audience at Kennedy Space Center this week. “Not only can you talk to your colleagues, but your family at home.”

Astronaut Steve Bowen remembered supporting spacewalks early in the space station program during which ground teams experienced long stretches without any video of the action.

"We’re almost spoiled now with how much communication we have," he said. "It really makes the science output and the ability to operate space station as miraculous as it is."

The TDRS system also helps track launching rockets, including the Atlas V on Friday.

More than 40 science missions flying in low Earth orbit use the satellites to relay telemetry and science, including the famous Hubble Space Telescope.

“All of the beautiful images that you are getting from deep space, all of the galaxies that we are discovering, we are seeing, is brought to you thanks to TDRS,” said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters.

NASA declined an option to build a fourth satellite like the last three.

Instead, Younes said the space agency will focus on transitioning to more modern laser communications technology by the mid-2020s.

“We are seeing a need for additional data relaying capability around the 2025 timeframe, so we have time to insert the transformational technology,” he said.

Friday’s launch had been scheduled for earlier this month, but was delayed to replace a satellite antenna damaged slightly when it was hit by a crane during launch preparations at Lockheed Martin’s Astrotech Space Operation’s facility in Titusville.

Boeing attributed the accident to human error and absorbed an unspecified cost to replace the antenna.

Friday’s planned 8:03 a.m. liftoff was pushed back in the 40-minute window when the launch team needed more time to cool down the rocket’s Centaur upper-stage engine before ignition.

The launch was ULA’s fifth of the year, ending a four-month layoff, and 120th since Boeing and Lockheed Martin formed the joint venture in 2006.

The mission was the second launched from the Space Coast in less than four full days, after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set sail Monday afternoon with International Space Station cargo.

Another launch is planned next Friday night, of a rocket that has never flown from Florida.

Orbital ATK's solid-fueled Minotaur IV is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 46 with an experimental Air Force mission late Aug. 25. A four-hour launch window opens at 11:15 p.m.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.