ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />An unmanned rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday (January 23) to put the newest member of NASA's space communications network into orbit.<br/> <br />The 19-story tall Atlas 5 rocket, built and launched by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, lifted off at 9:33 p.m. EST (0233 GMT Friday).<br/> <br />With the 3.8-ton (3,447-kg) Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) perched on its nose, the rocket blazed through clear, star-filled skies as it headed southeast over the Atlantic Ocean toward orbit.<br/> <br />The satellite is the 12th built for a NASA constellation that circles more than 22,300 miles (35,888 km) above Earth.<br/> <br />The satellites are strategically positioned over the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans where they can continuously track and communicate with the space station and dozens of other fast-moving spacecraft some 22,000 miles (35,406 km) below.<br/> <br />Eight members of t
