Tracking and Data Relay Satellites Boeing is building NASA the next-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) with a crucial crosslink communications capability between Earth-orbiting spacecraft and control and data processing facilities on the ground. Incorporating a modern design with flight-proven performance, this series gives NASA continuous, high-data rate communication with the Space Shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope, International Space Station and dozens of unmanned scientific satellites. Building the newest TDRS satellites continues Boeing’s support of NASA programs for more than 40 years.
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, California. The estimated value of the contract option is $289 million and extends the period of performance through April 2024. Exercising the option will allow Boeing Satellite Systems to retain at least 300 American jobs.
The TDRS-K Program contract, awarded in December 2007, is a fixed-price incentive contract that directs Boeing Satellite Systems to design, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, ship, provide launch support, conduct in-orbit checkout operations and provide sustaining engineering support for two TDRS spacecraft, TDRS-K and TDRS-L. The original contract included options for two additional spacecraft (TDRS-M and TDRS-N). This action exercises the option for TDRS-M.
"With the first-generation TDRS spacecraft retiring by 2015, NASA must continue to replenish the fleet," said Pete Vrotsos, network services director for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "TDRS-M is the agency's first step in assuring the space network will meet NASA's and the U.S. government's relay satellite requirements by 2017."
The TDRS Project is a national asset that provides critical support to NASA science and human exploration missions and support to other government agencies. The TDRS System Project is located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
For more information about the TDRS Program, visit.