CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite known as TDRS-K arrives at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard an Air Force C-17 transport aircraft at 8:29 a.m. Dec. 18 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for a Jan. 29 launch to a location in geostationary orbit. TDRS-K flew aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 from the Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems assembly facility in El Segundo, Calif., for final preparation to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. TDRS-K is the first of three next-generation satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for NASA by expanding the lifespan of the fleet. Each of the new satellites has a higher performance solar panel design to provide more spacecraft power. This upgrade will return signal processing for the S-Band multiple access service to the ground -- the same as the first-generation TDRS spacecraft. Ground-based processing allows TDRS to service more customers with different and evolving communication requirements. For more information, visit <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/">http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/</a>
<bdi><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q117448892" class="extiw" title="d:Q117448892"><span title="NASA photographer">Kim Shiflett</span></a>
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Taken on 18 December 2012
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