NASA Launches Third-Generation Communication Satellite

NASA launched a new communication satellite Wednesday to support the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope, reports Reuters.

An Atlas 5 rocket carrying one of three of NASA's next-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) blasted off at 8:48 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The satellite known as TDRS-K will be placed into orbit some 22,300 miles above planet Earth. It will join the seven-member network of satellites to track rocket launches and provide telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services to support science and human exploration missions orbiting Earth, announced NASA.

TDRS-K is the 11th TDRS satellite to be launched by NASA. Two TDRS spacecraft were decommissioned in 2009 and 2011 respectively, and a third satellite was lost in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger accident. Currently, there are six satellites that are operational, while the seventh one is a spare.

"With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space network," said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager. "This addition to our current fleet of seven will provide even greater capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA's scientific discoveries." 

TDRS-K is one of three third-generation satellites that NASA has built to replace the aging satellites. Earlier, three two-generation TDRS satellites were launched from 2000 to 2002. "It's been a long time since we launched the last one," NASA's TDRS project manager, Jeffrey Gramling, told reporters at a news conference before the launch, according to Reuters.

This newest third generation satellite will be in a three-month test phase, after which NASA will accept the spacecraft for additional evaluation before putting the satellite into service.

The space agency is planning to launch the second next-generation satellite - TDRS-L - in 2014.