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NASA's constellation of Tracking
and Data Relay Satellites
TDRS – are the critical link for
continuous space communications.
But it wasn't always this way...
Before TDRS, NASA relied
on a web of ground-based tracking and
communication stations located around the globe.
These ground stations
used large antennas to receive early
transmissions from space.
The different orbits of these spacecraft determined
the locations of ground stations,
with the majority being centered around the equator.
Sometimes even ships and planes
that housed antennas were used to fill in holes of
coverage between spacecraft and
user control centers.
During this period, these early spacecraft only
had a few moments to transmit their data
to each station as it traveled on
on its orbit passing from horizon to horizon.
In an attempt
to increase visibility with the ground,
the number of these ground stations
around the world multiplied.
As time passed these networks evolved and
merged but they often suffered from a variety of
challenges such as regional weather
and political instability.
With the advent of the shuttle program,
NASA began to see the need for an improved
solution.
The TDRS project was
established to develop a constellation of satellites
satellites that would be designed to route data between the
user spacecraft and the ground
ground for critical NASA missions in low-Earth orbit.
The 9 TDRS
spacecraft that have been deployed since
1983 have transformed the way
NASA communicates.
Each TDRS spacecraft is placed
into geosynchronous orbit,
giving them a fixed line of sight with
one of the TDRS ground stations.
Today, TDRS spacecraft
relay data between Earth-orbiting
satellites and the dedicated TDRS ground
terminals 24 hours a day
7 days a week.
Three TDRS ground terminals provide
a constant connection between the TDRS
constellation and the User
spacecraft's data processing facilities.
Two of these
stations are located at the White Sands
Complex in New Mexico and the third
is located in Guam.
Together, the ground stations and
the fleet of TDRS spacecraft, provide
100 percent global
communication coverage, ensuring
that data from dozens of Earth-orbiting
missions is delivered on-time,
every-time.
TDRS provides a vital service to Earth Science
missions studying the evolution of Earth's
climate and researchers postulating
about the future of the Earth system.
These missions are delivering data
in real time about Earth events
and processes vital to human civilization.
TDRS communicates
with launch vehicles as they send missions on
their journeys of discovery.
TDRS tracks their location as they
leave the pad ensuring that engineers
on the ground know that the vehicle is on the right
course and is functioning properly.
TDRS
provides critical voice and video
support to NASA's human space flight endeavors,
including ongoing support
of the International Space Station and it's
critical resupply vehicles.
TDRS supports space science missions
that investigate the farthest reaches of
space, cataloging gamma-ray
bursts, the birth of
galaxies and the early history of our
universe. Through them
we can learn new information about the scope
and scale of the cosmos.
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NASA is getting ready to replenish the fleet by
adding the first of three new spacecraft
to the constellation
TDRS K. TDRS L
and TDRS M will be
launched in the coming years and join the
constellation ensuring that the
critical lifeline of space-to-ground
communication support will be available
for many years to come.
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