Tracking and Data Relay Satellite

A tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS) is a type of communications satellite that forms part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communications to and from independent "User Platforms" such as satellites, balloons, aircraft, the International Space Station, and remote bases like the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. This system was designed to replace an existing worldwide network of ground stations that had supported all of NASA's crewed flight missions and uncrewed satellites in low-Earth orbits. The primary system design goal was to increase the amount of time that these spacecraft were in communication with the ground and improve the amount of data that could be transferred. These TDRSS satellites are all designed and built to be launched to and function in geosynchronous orbit, 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above the surface of the Earth.

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TDRS
communications satellite, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
NASA, communications satellite, Dong Fang Hong 2, Ekran, 

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Location: KML, Cluster Map, Maps,

Frameless

TDRS gen2

TDRS gen3 (1)

TDRS gen3 (2)

Guam Remote Site

TDRS gen1 (2)

STS-51-L Recovered Debris (TDRS) - GPN-2004-00007

Artist's impression of a TDRS satellite in orbit

Artist's impression of a TDRS satellite in orbit

Nacreous clouds over the NASA Radome, McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

A model of a TDRS satellite at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Type	Subtype	Date	Description	Notes	Source
commons	image		TDRS gen2		Commons
commons	image		TDRS gen3 (1)		Commons
commons	image		TDRS gen3 (2)		Commons
commons	image		Guam Remote Site		Commons
commons	image		TDRS gen1 (2)		Commons
commons	image		STS-51-L Recovered Debris (TDRS) - GPN-2004-00007		Commons
commons	image		Artist's impression of a TDRS satellite in orbit		Commons
commons	image		Artist's impression of a TDRS satellite in orbit		Commons
commons	image		Nacreous clouds over the NASA Radome, McMurdo Station, Antarctica.		Commons
commons	image		A model of a TDRS satellite at the Udvar-Hazy Center.		Commons