An Atlas V rocket launched Wednesday night in the first launch of the new year from the Space Coast.
The rocket launched on time at 8:48 p.m.
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On board the Atlas V rocket is NASA's new Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-K, the first of three new satellites that will replace older satellites currently in orbit.
NASA showed a sneak peek of the new satellite a few weeks ago at Astrotech, in Titusville.
The satellite is key to NASA communicating with astronauts in space and aboard the International Space Station. It's just one in a series of satellites that allow the space station, as well as the Hubble telescope and even other satellites, to relay data, video and images back to Earth.
TDRS-K will orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth, positioned roughly over Hawaii.
Ahead of the Atlas V launch, NASA is also expected to give an update on the progress so far on the Orion spacecraft, which is being prepared for its first test launch next year.
Orion will be unmanned during that test flight, but NASA is betting on the spacecraft to eventually carry humans deeper into space, to places like the moon, Mars or even an asteroid.