Uncrewed spacecraftMission concluded

TDRS-4 spacecraft

Geostationary tracking and data-relay satellite

TDRS-4 spacecraft was a about 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms) with deployed antennas NASA communications platform carrying s-band multiple-access array, steerable s-band and ku-band single-access antennas, telemetry, command, and station-keeping systems. Discovery deployed TDRS-D, which entered service as TDRS-4 and completed the triangular geosynchronous network designed to provide near-continuous links between low-orbit spacecraft and the White Sands ground terminal.

Uncrewed spacecraft dossier

Flight profile

Launch: March 13, 1989

Vehicle record

Flights: 1 documented mission
First flight: TDRS-4
Final flight: TDRS-4
Operator: NASA Space Network
Launch vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery
Mass: about 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilograms) with deployed antennas
Destination
Payload: S-band multiple-access array, steerable S-band and Ku-band single-access antennas, telemetry, command, and station-keeping systems
Outcome: Successful first-generation relay mission

Sources

NASA: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Generations: TDRS-4 NASA: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Generations NASA: The TDRS Era Began During Challenger's Maiden Voyage NASA: STS-29 NASA Space Shuttle Missions Summary (TM-2011-216142)

Back to Vehicles