TDRS-10

TDRS-10, known before launch as TDRS-J, is an American communications satellite which is operated by NASA as part of the Tracking and [Data Relay Satellite System]. It was constructed by the Boeing Satellite Development Center, formerly Hughes Space and Communications, and is based on the BSS-601 satellite bus. It was the third and final Advanced TDRS, or second-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, to be launched.

History

The final Atlas IIA rocket was used to launch TDRS-J, under a contract with International Launch Services. The launch occurred at 02:42 UTC on 5 December 2002, from Spaceport Florida [Launch Complex 36|Space Launch Complex 36A] at the Cape Canaveral [Air Force Station]. TDRS-10 separated from its carrier rocket into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. At 01:00 UTC on 14 December, following a series of apogee burns, it reached geostationary orbit.

Deployment

TDRS-J was initially positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude 153 degrees west of the Greenwich Meridian, and following on-orbit testing, it received the operational designation TDRS-10. In December 2003, it was moved to 151.5° west, arriving the next month. It remained there until June, when it departed for 42.3° west. It arrived there in November, and has since been slowly drifting eastwards. By November 2005, it was at 42° west, and in November 2006, it was recorded to have been at 41.6° west. In July 2009, it was at 40.75° west. In May 2020, it was at 171 degrees west.