SEAL BEACH, Calif., March 22 (UPI) -- A satellite slated to become the newest member of NASA's orbital communications network fell short of its intended post 22,300 miles above Earth.
Boeing Space and Communications, the satellite manufacturer and current owner, is developing plans to overcome a problem with the spacecraft's propulsion system. The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite was launched March 8 aboard an unmanned Atlas rocket.
The spacecraft was left in an elliptical orbit with the intention that TDRS' onboard propulsion system would circularize the spacecraft's path to an altitude of 22,300 miles above the planet. At that orbit, the spacecraft stays over a fixed position on Earth.
Four days after launch, however, engineers realized one of the satellite's four fuel tanks was not sufficiently pressurized to force propellant to the engines, said Boeing spokesman George Torres.
Using fuel from three tanks, spacecraft operators were able to raise the satellite's orbit to a low point of about 5,000 miles. Although the satellite could reach its intended perch just using fuel from three tanks, it would not have enough propellant left to fulfill its planned 11-year mission, Torres said.
"We're going to give them time to resolve this problem," said NASA spokeswoman Susan Hendrix, with the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "At some point, if it becomes clear that TDRS was not going to make it into the right orbit, then we'll have to re-assess the situation."
NASA's contract with Boeing calls for the company to deliver a fully functioning satellite in circular 22,300 mile-high orbit.
"Right now it's Boeing's satellite and we want them to take the lead," Hendrix said. "We're assisting them in any way we can."
Torres said Boeing is confident the problem will be resolved over the next few weeks.
"We believe we are going to be able to fix this," said Torres.
In addition to relaying voice, data and video from the space shuttle and the space station to ground-control teams, the TDRS network is used by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and dozens of other Earth-orbiting spacecraft.
NASA currently has six operational TDRS spacecraft in the network.
