PHOTOS: TDRS spacecraft delivered to launch pad

A new-generation NASA data relay satellite was transferred to the launch pad Jan. 13 for attachment to a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite L, or TDRS L, is set for liftoff Jan. 23 atop the Atlas 5 booster from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41. The launch window opens at 9:05 p.m. EST and extends for 40 minutes.

The spacecraft was transported to the launch pad in a convoy from the Astrotech payload processing facility in nearby Titusville, through Kennedy Space Center past the landmark Vehicle Assembly Building, then to Complex 41's Vertical Integration Facility, where the two-stage Atlas launcher was already assembled awaiting the TDRS L spacecraft.

The move occurred overnight when traffic in the area was light.

See our Mission Status Center for the latest news on the mission.

Photo Credit: NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis