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TDRS-9

American communications satellite

Field	Value
name	TDRS-9
image	TDRS-I.jpg
image_caption	TDRS-I undergoing processing before launch
insignia	TDRS I Logo.png
mission_type	Communication
operator	NASA
COSPAR_ID	2002-011A
mission_duration	Planned: 15 years
Final:
spacecraft_bus	BSS-601
manufacturer	Boeing SDC
launch_mass	3180 kg
launch_date	UTC
launch_rocket	Atlas IIA
launch_site	Cape Canaveral SLC-36A
launch_contractor	ILS
disposal_type	Decommissioned
deactivated
orbit_epoch	8 March 2002, 17:59:00 UTC
orbit_reference	Geocentric
orbit_regime	Geostationary
orbit_periapsis	35768 km
orbit_apoapsis	35809 km
orbit_inclination	0 degrees
orbit_longitude	151° West
173.5° West
64.5° West
apsis	gee
programme	Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
Second-generation
previous_mission	TDRS-8
next_mission	TDRS-10

Final:

173.5° West 64.5° West

Second-generation TDRS-9, known before launch as TDRS-I, was an American communications satellite which was 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 was based on the BSS-601 satellite bus. It was the second Advanced TDRS, or second-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, to be launched.

History

An Atlas IIA rocket was used to launch TDRS-I, under a contract with International Launch Services. The launch occurred at 22:59 GMT on 8 March 2002, and used Space Launch Complex 36A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Deployment and problems

TDRS-9 separated from its carrier rocket into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. At 06:00 on 6 October, following a series of apogee burns, it reached geostationary orbit. The orbit raising maneuvers were originally scheduled to take ten days, but ended up lasting six months due to a problem with the system used to pressurize its number two fuel tank. A valve used to release helium into the tank failed to open. This was later established to have been due to a wiring error prior to launch. Engineers developed a solution which involved pressurizing the tank using the pressurization system from the number one tank, which was still working, once the propellant in that tank had been used. When orbit raising operations resumed on 19 March, it was estimated that it would take two months to raise the satellite's orbit. It was later discovered that only using fuel from the number one tank upset the satellite's center of mass, causing the satellite to tumble when its main engines were fired. Controllers were able to compensate for this, however it took longer to raise the orbit as a result.

Operations

Upon reaching geostationary orbit, TDRS-I was initially placed at a longitude 151 degrees west of the Greenwich Meridian, and following on-orbit testing it received its operational designation, TDRS-9. In October 2003 it was moved from 151° West, and it arrived at 173.5° West in January 2004. It remained there until September, when it was moved to 64.5° West, arriving in March 2005. Engineers believed that the problems with its fuel tank pressurization system would not affect its operational lifespan.

Location of TDRS as of 22 May 2020

References

(1 July 2009). "UCS Satellite Database". Union of Concerned Scientists.
(5 January 2023). "NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-9 Reaches End of Mission".
"NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Trajectory Details".
Krebs, Gunter. "TDRS 8, 9, 10". Gunter's Space Page.
McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page.
McDowell, Jonathan. "Index". Jonathan's Space Page.
(2005). "Space Systems Failures". Springer-Praxis.
"TDRS 9". TSE.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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