SPACEFLIGHT NOW (1/20/2013) -- NASA's next-generation communications satellite was mounted atop the Atlas 5 rocket Sunday, kicking off the final week of preparations to send the science-relay spacecraft into orbit. The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite K, or TDRS K, is scheduled for liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 next Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 8:52 p.m. EST.

EETIMES.COM - NASA will upgrade its space communications capabilities when it attempts to launch its first data relay satellite in over a decade early next year. The space agency plans to launch its newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, dubbed TDRS-K, from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 29. Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems (El Segundo, Calif.) delivered the satellite to the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday (Dec. 18), NASA said. TDRS-K will join a constellation of satellites that provides tracking, telemetry and data relay capabilities during low-Earth orbit missions.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - Technicians finished fueling the TDRS-K spacecraft today inside the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center as processing operations move ahead for a Jan. 29 launch of the satellite. The spacecraft will be connected to an Atlas V payload adapter next week before it is encapsulated inside a fairing or nosecone.

WASHINGTON -- NASA will give 70 of its social media followers an insider's the opportunity to see a launch in-person. The NASA Social, scheduled for Jan. 28-29 to coincide with the launch of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K (TDRS-K), will be held at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K (TDRS-K) launch media accreditation now is open. Liftoff will be aboard an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 8:52 p.m. EST at the opening of a 40-minute launch window.

SPACE-TRAVEL.COM - The first in a new class of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 18 to begin the final phase of launch preparations ahead of a targeted liftoff on Jan. 29, 2013.

SPACEFLIGHT NOW - The next addition to NASA's constellation of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, landing this morning aboard a military transport aircraft after a cross-country ride inside a shipping container from Boeing's factory in Los Angeles.

FLORIDA TODAY - The first spacecraft scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral in 2013 arrived this morning on the Space Coast. Slated to launch Jan. 29 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the NASA communications satellite was flown from California to Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway in a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft.

MEDIA ADVISORY : M13-007 - NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K (TDRS-K), set to launch this month, will be the focus of a media opportunity at 10 a.m. EST Friday, Jan. 11, at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Fla. Media representatives will be able to photograph the TDRS-K spacecraft and interview project and launch program officials.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, known as TDRS-K, arrived Tuesday at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for a Jan. 29 launch. TDRS-K arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 from the Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems assembly facility in El Segundo, Calif.

GREENBELT, MD -- Technicians and engineers are completing final system checks and spacecraft inspections on the first of NASA's third-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). Boeing will ship TDRS-K from its satellite assembly facility in El Segundo, Calif., to Cape Canaveral, Fla., in November.

GREENBELT, MD -- The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite 4 (TDRS-4) recently completed almost 23 years of operations support and successfully completed end-of-mission de-orbit and decommissioning activities. TDRS-4's operational life span was well beyond its original 10-year design.

GREENBELT, MD -- The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) was recently featured on a new blog at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), titled Geeked on Goddard. The post, describing how GSFC's Flight Dynamic Facility plays a critical role providing service to NASA's Space Shuttle Program and International Space Station, mentions TDRS's tracking responsibility.

WASHINGTON -- NASA has elected to exercise the first of two available contract options for procurement of an additional Tracking Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) from Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc. of El Segundo, Calif. The estimated value of the contract option is $289 million and extends the period of performance through April 2024.

GREENBELT, MD - The most recent evaluations of NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) project confirmed all systems go for a third generation upgrade of the orbiting communications network. TDRS-K is scheduled for launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida in the fall of 2012. Approval to move forward came during a recent APMC meeting at NASA Headquarters.

FLORIDA TODAY — Video of ISS's crew members at work. The HST’s latest images of the early universe. Views of threatening weather and other Earth observations. All are beamed to the ground through an aging network of seven NASA communications spacecraft called TDRS.

SPACEFLIGHT NOW - The first spacecraft in NASA's third generation of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites has been tested and fueled in preparation for its trek to orbit Jan. 29. Reporters and photographers got to see the craft Friday in the cleanroom facilities at the Astrotech complex in Titusville, Florida.

PHYS.ORG—NASA's newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, known as TDRS-K, arrived Tuesday at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for a Jan. 29 launch. TDRS-K arrived aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 from the Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems assembly facility in El Segundo, Calif.

SPACEFLIGHT NOW -- More than a quarter-century after a hard-luck launch aboard the shuttle Challenger, the pioneer of NASA's constellation of tracking and communications satellites is being retired from service.