Videos: Atlas V Blasts off from Florida with TDRS-M Satellite
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket lifted of from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 12:29 UTC on August 18, 2017, carrying into orbit NASA’s TDRS-M satellite, set to join the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System supporting the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and dozens of NASA science missions orbiting the Earth.
Powering away from Florida’s Space Coast with its RD-180 engine, Atlas V fired its first stage for four minutes before the Centaur upper stage took over for an initial 13.5-minute burn followed by 90 minutes of passive coasting prior to a brief re-light of the upper stage to inject the 3.5-metric ton satellite into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit.
