TDRS-J Arrives at Kennedy Space Center for November 20 Launch

	TDRS-J is being offloaded at the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility from an Air Force C-17 air cargo plane.

The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-J, TDRS-J, recently completed pre-launch testing at the Boeing Satellite Systems plant in El Segundo, Calif. This third of three advanced communications satellites arrived at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility on October 17.

TDRS-J is currently undergoing final preparations for a November 20 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard an Atlas IIA rocket. The satellite's next major milestone is a simulated flight test, an electrical test of the vehicle's systems during simulated powered flight from launch through spacecraft separation.

TDRS-J is scheduled to be mated with the launch vehicle at the pad on November 12, and will undergo a Composite Electrical Readiness Test the following day. The test is used to verify that the vehicle and spacecraft are operating on an integrated basis.

This latest addition to the fleet of seven on-orbit TDRS satellites will provide high data rate communication links with the Space Shuttle, the recently refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, and numerous other Earth-orbiting spacecraft, as well as provide tracking services for expendable launch vehicle users.

The late-night launch will be the 24th and final Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA expendable rocket launch.

For more information about the new and advanced TDRS trio, go to: http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/Tdrsproject/