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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The first stage of the Atlas V rocket that will carry the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-K, into orbit has been off loaded from a Ukrainian Antonov-124 transport aircraft after its arrival at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The booster stage was delivered from the United Launch Alliance manufacturing plant in Decatur, Ala., and will be taken to the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center at Cape Canaveral to begin processing. Launch of the TDRS-K on the Atlas V rocket is planned for January 2013 from Space Launch Complex 41. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services. For more information, visit http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Photo credit: NASA/Charisse Nahser