NASA launches next generation communications satellite

The TDRS satellite will lead a new generation of orbiters that communicate with space shuttles and other spacecraft

June 30, 2000
Web posted at: 9:00 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT)

By Richard Stenger
CNN.com Writer

(CNN) -- NASA launched one of the most advanced communications satellites on Friday, following a one-day postponement to check an engine on the rocket that will carry it into space.

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) will provide vital communication links for space shuttles, the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft.

Space agency managers delayed a scheduled Thursday liftoff to review engine data on the Lockheed Martin Atlas 2A rocket.

A part on a similar engine experienced an anomaly during a test at a manufacturing facility, a NASA spokesman said. But the rocket that blasted into orbit with the TDRS onboard checked out fine.

Lockheed Martin Atlas 2A in a recent launch

"There's nothing wrong with the satellite or the rocket," said Mark Hess of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which will manage the $395 million TDRS mission.

Once deployed, the orbiter will become known as TDRS-8. It is the first of three advanced TDRS satellites slated to replenish an existing orbiting fleet, which has provided communications links between spacecraft and ground controllers since 1983.

"The average age of the existing fleet is more than 10 years, which is beyond the mission design lifetime," TDRS project manager Anthony Comberiate said in a statement.

The U.S. Air Force issued warnings to prevent watercraft from entering a danger zone off the Florida coast Friday morning. Boaters have delayed recent launches by entering restricted waters where solid rocket boosters or malfunctioning rockets could splash down.

NASA plans to launch the other new satellites in 2002 and 2003.

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NASA
Tracking & Data Relay Satellite Project
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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