\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH DATE: \<COLOUR 0> September 29, 1988
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH SITE: \<COLOUR 0> Earth orbit
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH VEHICLE: \<COLOUR 0> Space shuttle orbiter Discovery/IUS
\<COLOUR 1> ORBIT: \<COLOUR 0> Geostationary
\<COLOUR 1> SIZE: \<COLOUR 0> 17.4 metres across solar panels; 12.8 metres across dish antennas
\<COLOUR 1> WEIGHT: \<COLOUR 0> 2.3 tonnes
\<COLOUR 1> COUNTRY: \<COLOUR 0> USA
\<COLOUR 1> COMMENTS: \<COLOUR 0> The third of NASA's tracking and data relay satellites (TDRS), launched from the shuttle (STS-26) and boosted to high geostationary orbit by IUS (inertial upper stage); replaces the one lost during the Challenger disaster in January 1986; subsequently, TDRS 4 is launched on STS-39, TDRS 5 on STS-43.