TDRS-3, known before launch as TDRS-C, is a first-generation American communications satellite, which is operated by NASA as part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. It was constructed by TRW and is based on a custom satellite bus, which was used for all seven first-generation TDRS satellites.[4]
Launch
The TDRS-C satellite was launched aboard during the STS-26 mission in 1988; the first Shuttle flight since the Challenger disaster which had resulted in the loss of the previous TDRS satellite, TDRS-B. Discovery launched from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center at 15:37:00 UTC on 29 September 1988.[5] TDRS-C was deployed from Discovery around six hours after launch, and was raised to geostationary orbit by means of an Inertial Upper Stage.[5]