TDRS-3 , known before launch as TDRS-C, is an 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.
The TDRS-C satellite was launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-26R mission in 1988; the first Shuttle flight since the Challenger accident 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 GMT on 29 September 1988. TDRS-C was deployed from Discovery around six hours after launch, and was raised to geostationary orbit by means of an Inertial Upper Stage.
TRW Space and Technology Group in Redondo Beach, CA, is the prime spacecraft contractor. Ground operations at the White Sands complex are conducted by Contel Federal Systems and Bendix Field Engineering.
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