On January 30, Eastern Time, an Atlas 5 rocket was powered by NASA’s new generation of tracking and data relay satellite “TDRS-K†launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. air.
Relay satellites are called "satellite satellites" and can capture signals from lower orbit spacecraft and transmit them to ground control centers to achieve communication between these spacecraft and ground stations. A relay satellite can only transmit signals within its antenna receiving range. After several satellites form a “constellationâ€, the spacecraft can maintain smooth communication when it passes through any point on the orbit. Without this “constellationâ€, more stations must be built on the ground in order to continuously track the spacecraft on the track.
"TDRS-K" will be located on the ground above the track about 35,680,000 kilometers, the corresponding ground location near Hawaii. TDRS project manager Jeffrey Gramlin said: "The relay satellite system has become the key to NASA's many scientific discoveries. The launch of 'TDRS-K' will bring more performance to this system." It is understood that With the features of the first-generation TDRS satellites, the newly built three satellites all have a higher-performance solar panel that will allow the satellites to be more fully powered.
The relay satellite project is a communications system established by NASA in geosynchronous orbit. It consists of several satellites, the first of which was launched on April 4, 1983. In 1986, the "Challenger" spacecraft carrying the second relay satellite exploded when it was airborne. The last time NASA launched relay satellites was in 2002.
Each relay satellite can provide tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data transmission services. "All the images we see from the Hubble Telescope, all the videos from the International Space Station, and the astronaut images on the space shuttle are transmitted through the relay satellite system. All satellite data on the orbit are also Both are transmitted via the TDRS system," said Paul Buchanan, deputy manager of the relay satellite project of the NASA Goddard Aerospace Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Four of the seven satellites still in use in U.S. relay satellite systems have exceeded their expected lifespan, and it is urgent to launch new generation satellites to extend the life of the entire system. "Some of our satellites are aging, we need new satellites to replace and help transmit more signals," said Diana Carrero, task manager of NASA's launch service program. In 2007, NASA and Boeing signed a contract valued at US$700 million. The latter created the “TDRS-K†and “TDRS-L†satellites. In 2011, NASA signed a contract with Boeing to build the "TDRS-M" satellite for US$289 million. According to the plan, "TDRS-L" and "TDRS-M" will be launched in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
At present, the United States, the European Union and Japan are all developing a new generation of tracking and data relay satellite systems, and space-based monitoring and control will become an important development direction for future aerospace monitoring and control. (Reporter Chen Yiming)
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