TDRS Continuing the Fleet

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS, project is building the follow-on and replacement spacecraft necessary to maintain and expand NASA’s Space Network. The third satellite of the third generation, TDRS-M, is set to launch in August 2017. TDRS-M will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard an Atlas V rocket. This satellite will join a constellation of space-based communications satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Stu Snodgrass