VERO BEACH — Atlas V, carrying a communications satellite, could be seen from Vero Beach at Jaycee Park’s boardwalk as it makes its way into orbit.
An Atlas V rocket lifted off at 9:33 p.m. last night, carrying the TDRS-L communications. The flames from the RD-180 engine lit up the clear night sky around Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, according to NASA.
The TDRS-L will operate as part of NASA’s critical communications network in space that allows data and commands to flow between ground stations and spacecraft orbiting Earth.
According to NASA the Centaur upper stage completed its second engine burn last night and separated from the TDRS-L spacecraft as planned, leaving the communications satellite in a geosynchronous transfer orbit of 2,613 miles by 19,324 miles. The TDRS satellite will use its own engines to steadily raise and circularize its orbit to about 22,300 miles, high enough that its orbit speed will match Earth’s rotation. From that altitude, the TDRS will appear to hover over the same spot on Earth.
