Mission type | Communications |
---|---|
Operator | NASA |
COSPAR ID | 2014-004A |
SATCAT no. | 39504 |
Mission duration | Planned: 15 years Elapsed: 9 years, 1 month, 4 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | BSS-601HP |
Manufacturer | Boeing |
Launch mass | 3,454 kg (7,615 lb) [1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 24 January 2014, 02:33 UTC [2] |
Rocket | Atlas V 401 |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 |
Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Geosynchronous orbit |
Perigee altitude | 35,785 kilometers (22,236 mi) [3] |
Apogee altitude | 35,797 kilometers (22,243 mi) [3] |
Inclination | 6.77 degrees [3] |
Period | 1436.03 minutes [3] |
Epoch | 22 January 2015, 07:10:47 UTC [3] |
TDRS-12, known before launch as TDRS-L, is an American communications satellite operated by NASA as part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. The twelfth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, it is the second third-generation spacecraft to be launched, following TDRS-11 in 2013. [4]
TDRS-12 was constructed by Boeing, based on the BSS-601HP satellite bus. Fully fueled, it has a mass of 3,454 kg (7,615 lb), with a design life of 15 years. [1] It carries two steerable antennas capable of providing S, Ku and Ka band communications for other spacecraft, with an additional array of S-band transponders for lower-rate communications with five further satellites. [4] The satellite is powered by two solar arrays, which produce 2.8 to 3.2 kilowatts of power, while an R-4D-11-300 engine is present to provide propulsion. [1] [5]
The United Launch Alliance was contracted to launch TDRS-12. The spacecraft was launched on 24 January 2014 at 02:33 UTC (21:33 local time on 23 January). [2] An Atlas V rocket was used, flying in the 401 configuration, with tail number AV-043. [5] After launch, TDRS-12 was deployed into a high-perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit. [6] The spacecraft raised itself into a geosynchronous orbit using its onboard propulsion system.
Syncom started as a 1961 NASA program for active geosynchronous communication satellites, all of which were developed and manufactured by the Space and Communications division of Hughes Aircraft Company. Syncom 2, launched in 1963, was the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite. Syncom 3, launched in 1964, was the world's first geostationary satellite.
The U.S. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) is a network of American communications satellites and ground stations used by NASA for space communications. The system was designed to replace an existing network of ground stations that had supported all of NASA's crewed flight missions. The prime design goal was to increase the time spacecraft were in communication with the ground and improve the amount of data that could be transferred. Many Tracking and Data Relay Satellites were launched in the 1980s and 1990s with the Space Shuttle and made use of the Inertial Upper Stage, a two-stage solid rocket booster developed for the shuttle. Other TDRS were launched by Atlas IIa and Atlas V rockets.
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A tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) is a type of communications satellite that forms part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communications to and from independent "User Platforms" such as satellites, balloons, aircraft, the International Space Station, and remote bases like the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. This system was designed to replace an existing worldwide network of ground stations that had supported all of NASA's crewed flight missions and uncrewed satellites in low-Earth orbits. The primary system design goal was to increase the amount of time that these spacecraft were in communication with the ground and improve the amount of data that could be transferred. These TDRSS satellites are all designed and built to be launched to and function in geosynchronous orbit, 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above the surface of the Earth.
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