LIVE: Atlas V 401 - TDRS-M - August 18, 2017

[input~2]

2 objects have been cataloged by USSTRATCOM

2017-047A/42915 in 4647 x 35753 km x 26.21°
2017-047B/42916 in 4404 x 34754 km x 26.39°

[FutureSpaceTourist]

#TDRSM will continue its deployment over the next few weeks until the spacecraft is fully unfolded and ready for testing. What comes next?

https://twitter.com/nasa_tdrs/status/898977125444857856

[catdlr]

Remote Pad Camera Views Of Atlas V / TDRS-M Launch


Matthew Travis
Published on Aug 19, 2017

Video Credit: ©2017 Matthew Travis / Zero-G News

NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M), which is the third and final in a series of next generation communications satellites, has successfully been placed into orbit following separation from a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. TDRS-M launched Friday at 8:03 a.m. EDT from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Ground controllers report the satellite is in good health at the start of a four-month check out in space by its manufacturer, Boeing. NASA will conduct additional tests before putting TDRS-M into service early next year. When ready, TDRS-M will become part of NASA’s Space Network providing navigation and high-data-rate communications to the International Space Station, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, rockets and a host of other spacecraft.

"The TDRS fleet is a critical connection delivering science and human spaceflight data to those who can use it here on Earth," said Dave Littmann, the TDRS project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "TDRS-M will expand the capabilities and extend the lifespan of the Space Network, allowing us to continue receiving and transmitting mission data well into the next decade."

[jacqmans]

August 18, 2017
RELEASE 17-073

NASA Successfully Launches Latest Communications Satellite


NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M), which is the third and final in a series of next generation communications satellites, has successfully been placed into orbit following separation from an United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. TDRS-M launched Friday at 8:29 a.m. EDT from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Ground controllers report the satellite is in good health at the start of a four-month checkout in space by its manufacturer, Boeing. NASA will conduct additional tests before putting TDRS-M into service early next year. When ready, TDRS-M will become part of NASA’s Space Network providing navigation and high-data-rate communications to the International Space Station, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, rockets and a host of other spacecraft.

“The TDRS fleet is a critical connection delivering science and human spaceflight data to those who can use it here on Earth,” said Dave Littmann, the TDRS project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “TDRS-M will expand the capabilities and extend the lifespan of the Space Network, allowing us to continue receiving and transmitting mission data well into the next decade.”

The mission of the TDRS project, established in 1973, is to develop, launch and deliver data communications relay spacecraft to support NASA's Space Network, which provides high-data-rate communications and accurate navigation. The TDRS-M spacecraft is effectively identical -- in both function and performance -- to the TDRS-K and -L spacecraft launched in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The TDRS fleet began operating during the space shuttle era with the launch of TDRS-1 in 1983. Of the TDRS spacecraft launched to date, only two have been retired and five of the nine operational satellites have exceeded their design life and continue to provide essential communications and navigation services.

Boeing conducted spacecraft integration and testing earlier this year at its satellite factory in El Segundo, California. After testing and confirming the spacecraft was ready for shipment, launch processing began following TDRS-M’s arrival in Florida June 23.

NASA's Space Communications and Navigation program, known as SCaN, is part of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington, and is responsible for the Space Network. The TDRS project office at Goddard manages the TDRS development program. Management of the launch service for TDRS-M is the responsibility of NASA’s Launch Services Program based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. ULA provided the Atlas V rocket launch service.

For more information about TDRS, visit:

http://nasa.gov/tdrs

[Targeteer]

TDRS-M   2017-047A        842.25min        17.55deg   35766km     10564km

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Posted to YouTube 22 Aug:

[Targeteer]

TDRS-M   2017-047A    1099.18min   10.59deg   35798km   22008km

[FutureSpaceTourist]

[Targeteer]

TDRS-M   2017-047A        1341.12min     7.67deg       35765km   32047km

[Targeteer]

42915   TDRS-M   2017-047A        1423.46min     7.11deg      35786km   35291km

[Targeteer]

42915   TDRS-M   2017-047A        1423.46min     7.11deg      35786km   35291km

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (Facebook)
19 mins ·

#TDRSM has reached its geosynchronous orbit at 22,300 miles above Earth's surface! Tomorrow the spacecraft components will begin to deploy.

To learn more about TDRS, visit: https://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov

Planned 7 deg inclination???

[Targeteer]

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (Facebook)
18 mins ·

Today's the day! #TDRSM's antennas and components will deploy over the next 24 hours so it can begin on-orbit testing.

Follow along - throughout the day, we'll be posting the sequence of deployments so you can see the order in which the components unfold.

To learn more about TDRS, visit: https://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov

[Targeteer]

In Geo-synch at the testing location?

42915   TDRS-M   2017-047A        1436.17min    7.01deg     35802km   35774km

[hvdh]

Yes probably, TDRS-L was tested near 149.8°W, TDRS-M is now near 149.7°W.

[Targeteer]

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (Facebook)
3 hrs ·

In case you missed it, the parts that make TDRS-M work have all successfully deployed. But what do they all do? Check it out!

For more about TDRS, visit: https://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov

[Targeteer]

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (Facebook) Page Liked · 1 hr ·
 
On #LaborDay, we honor the contributions of the many American working people, both NASA and contractors, who built, tested, launched and operate TDRS. Thank you!

[Targeteer]

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/last-nasa-communications-satellite-of-its-kind-joins-fleet


Feb. 15, 2018
Last NASA Communications Satellite of its Kind Joins Fleet
TDRS-M
An artist concept of TDRS-M, now named TDRS-13.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
launch of TDRS-M aka TDRS-13
TDRS-M, now named TDRS-13, launched on Aug. 18, 2017, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Following a period of in-orbit testing, the spacecraft has been accepted into NASA’s Space Network.
Credits: NASA Kennedy/Tony Gray and Sandra Joseph

NASA has begun operating the last satellite of its kind in the network that provides communications and tracking services to more than 40 NASA missions, including critical, real-time communication with the International Space Station. Following its August launch and a five-month period of in-orbit testing, the third-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), referred to as TDRS-M until this important milestone, was renamed TDRS-13, becoming the tenth operational satellite in the geosynchronous, space-based fleet.

“With TDRS-13’s successful acceptance into the network, the fleet is fully replenished and set to continue carrying out its important mission through the mid-2020s,” said Badri Younes, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now, we have begun focusing on the next generation of near-Earth communications relay capabilities.”

The 10 TDRS spacecraft comprise the space-based portion of the Space Network, relaying signals from low-Earth-orbiting missions with nearly 100 percent coverage.

“The acceptance of this final third-generation TDRS into the Space Network is the result of many years of dedication and hard work by the TDRS team,” said Dave Littmann, the TDRS project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “As a result, critical space communication and tracking services that enable NASA human spaceflight and scientific discovery will continue well into the next decade.”

​TDRS-13 launched on Aug. 18, 2017, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Built by Boeing in El Segundo, California, TDRS-13 and its nearly identical third-generation sister spacecraft are performing well. TDRS-K and -L launched in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

NASA established the TDRS project in 1973, and the first satellite launched 10 years later, providing NASA an exponential increase in data rates and contact time communicating with the space shuttle and other orbiting spacecraft, such as the Hubble Space Telescope.  Since then, NASA has continued to expand the TDRS constellation and advance the spacecraft capabilities.

“NASA looks forward to the future, developing even better ways to meet missions’ communications needs,” said Younes. “We will leverage NASA’s success in optical communications and other innovative technologies, as well as significantly increase our partnership with industry, as we envision a shift to increased reliance on commercial networks for most, if not all, of our communications needs in the near-Earth environment.”

Goddard is home to the TDRS project, which is responsible for the development and launch of these communication satellites. Boeing, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is the private contractor for the third-generation TDRS spacecraft. TDRS is the space element of NASA’s Space Network, providing the critical communication and navigation lifeline for NASA missions. NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, part of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for NASA’s Space Network.
For more information about NASA’s TDRS satellites, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/tdrs

For more information about SCaN, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/SCaN

[zubenelgenubi]

Another end of an era re: HS-601/BSS-601:

TDRS-M also marks the end of the line for the Boeing 601 family of communications satellites. The 601 was introduced in 1987 by Hughes Space and Communications, which was acquired by Boeing in 2000. The companies built more than 80 spacecraft using the Boeing 601 bus for commercial and government customers.

“I started out on 601s when I was a young engineer,” said Boeing’s [James Wilson III]. “It’s incredibly exciting for me, as an engineer and now as a manager, to have gone through that and see the final launch.”

From the SN article covering the launch concerning the next generation of TDRS satellites.
http://spacenews.com/tdrs-launch-marks-end-of-an-era/

[TripleSeven]

Another end of an era re: HS-601/BSS-601:

TDRS-M also marks the end of the line for the Boeing 601 family of communications satellites. The 601 was introduced in 1987 by Hughes Space and Communications, which was acquired by Boeing in 2000. The companies built more than 80 spacecraft using the Boeing 601 bus for commercial and government customers.

“I started out on 601s when I was a young engineer,” said Boeing’s [James Wilson III]. “It’s incredibly exciting for me, as an engineer and now as a manager, to have gone through that and see the final launch.”

From the SN article covering the launch concerning the next generation of TDRS satellites.
http://spacenews.com/tdrs-launch-marks-end-of-an-era/

they are amazing birds...I have the "joy" of being part of the South Pole com project which uses a number of "old sats" and have a TDRS down link facility on my farm...(among other old sats) ...I get access to a lot of Government hardware for near free for doing it but really it is something that I have done since a child on amateur radio and MARS stuff

It will be interesting to see what the next gen looks like...lasers maybe...but really big dishes and one day sats around the moon...