NASA
Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal
NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M spacecraft that will operate 22,300 miles above Earth to route vital communications to and from the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and nearly 40 other satellites is scheduled for liftoff Friday at 8:03 a.m. EDT (1203 GMT) from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.
Preview: NASA science-enabling relay satellite poised for launch
Resembling a cocooned insect with antennas and appendages tucked snuggly to its body for launch, NASA’s latest communications relay hub will be shot into space Friday to blossom in geosynchronous orbit for routing signals to and from the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and three dozen science observatories.
