Launch Photos: NASA's TDRS-L Satellite Streaks Into Space

Atlas V Soars with TDRS-L Spacecraft

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 9:33 p.m. EST.

Atlas 5 Rocket Launches TDRS-L Satellite

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launches into space carrying NASA's TDRS-L next-generation data relay satellite in a Jan. 23, 2014 liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Atlas 5 Rocket with TDRS-L at Launch Pad

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying NASA's TDRS-L data relay satellite stands poised atop a launch pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ahead of its planned launch on Jan. 23, 2014.

Atlas 5 Rocket Poised to Launch TDRS-L

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying NASA's TDRS-L data relay satellite stands poised atop a launch pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ahead of its planned launch on Jan. 23, 2014.

NASA TDRS-L Satellite At the Launch Pad

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41 in Florida, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft atop, arrives at the launch pad for a Jan. 23, 2014 launch.

TDRS-L Mission Poster

NASA’s TDRS-L satellite is set to liftoff on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Thursday, Jan. 23 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

TDRS-L in Orbit

Artist concept of the TDRS-L in orbit.

Atlas 5 Rocket with TDRS-L at Launch Pad

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41 in Florida, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft atop, arrives at the launch pad for a planned Jan. 23, 2014 launch.

NASA's TDRS-L Satellite

Members of the news media are given an opportunity for an up-close look at the TDRS-L spacecraft undergoing preflight processing inside the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville ahead of the satellite's January 2014 launch.

TDRS-L in Half Light

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41, engineers and technicians prepare to lift NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft for mounting atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Jan. 13, 2014.