On Jan. 23, 2014, 9:33 p.m. EST, NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite L (TDRS-L) blasted off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The 3.8 ton critical communications relay satellite is now safely in orbit and will become part of a network providing high-data-rate communications to the International Space Station (ISS), Hubble Space Telescope, launch vehicles and a host of other research spacecraft that relay absolutely critical flight, telemetry and science data.

Without the TDRS network of relay satellites, the ISS, Hubble, and other spacecraft would not be able to function. The “L” craft is the 12th in this series of communications satellites and is identical to the “K” which was launched in 2013 and marked the first of the third generation of TDRS satellites.

NASA will now conduct a three month in-orbit checkout, and the next spacecraft in this series, TDRS-M, is on track to be ready for launch in late 2015.

Take action. Tell Congress that your support doubling NASA’s funding so that they will never have to worry about the fate of critical missions like this one.