First Generation
Capabilities of the first generation TDRS.
Multiple Access Antenna
- 30 elements: 12 diplexed for transmit/30 for receive
- S-band communications
- Circular polarization (Left Hand Circular (LHC) only)
- ± 13° conical field-of-view
Space-to-Ground Link Antenna
- 2.0 meter Ku-band antenna
- White Sands Complex (WSC)/Guam Remote Ground Terminal (GRGT)-TDRS uplink/downlink
- Perpendicular, linear polarization
Solar Panels (2)
Single Access Antenna (2)
- Dual – frequency communications
- S-band
- Ku-band
- Circular polarization (Left Hand Circular (LHC) or Right Hand Circular (RHC))
- ± 22° E-W, ± 28° N-S rectangular field-of-view
Omni Antenna
- S-band Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C)
- Left Hand Circular (LHC) polarization
TDRS-1 stack prior to release from the STS-6 payload bay
TDRS-3 deployment
Second Generation
Capabilities of the second generation TDRS.
Capabilities Include:
Multiple Access Antenna
- 32 receive antenna elements
- 15 transmit antenna elements
- S-band communications
- Left Hand Circular (LHC) polarization
- ± 13° conical field-of-view
Solar Panels (2)
Space-to-Ground Link Antenna
- 2.4 meter Ku-band antenna
- White Sands Complex (WSC)/Guam Remote Ground Terminal (GRGT)-TDRS uplink/downlink
- Perpendicular, linear polarization
- Modified frequency plan allows collocation
Single Access Antenna (2)
- Tri-frequency communications
- S-band
- Ku-band
- Ka-band
- Circular polarization (Left Hand Circular (LHC) or Right Hand Circular (RHC))
On-Board Operational Enhancements
- On-board Single Access (SA) antenna control
- Autonomous recovery from anomalies
- Improved monitoring
Omni Antenna
- S-band Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C)
- Left Hand Circular (LHC) polarization
TDRS-H launch
TDRS-J
Third Generation
Capabilities of the third generation TDRS.
Capabilities Include:
Multiple Access Antenna
- 32 receive antenna elements
- 15 transmit antenna elements
- S-band communications
- Left Hand Circular (LHC) polarization
Solar Panels (2)
Space-to-Ground Link Antenna
- White Sands Complex (WSC)/Guam Remote Ground Terminal (GRGT)-TDRS uplink/downlink
- Perpendicular, linear polarization
Single Access Antenna (2)
- Tri-frequency communications
- S-band
- Ku-band
- Ka-band
Forward Omni Antenna
- S-band Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C)
AFT Omni Antenna
- S-band Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C)
TDRS-K launch
TDRS-L