Which Space Shuttle mission was the first to launch a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite? STS-6 was the first Space Shuttle mission to launch a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.
Challenger carried TDRS-A on its maiden voyage, which launched on April 4, 1983. About ten hours into the mission, the four-person crew deployed the satellite and its Inertial Upper Stage from the cargo bay. TDRS-A later became known as TDRS-1 after reaching operational orbit.
The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System was designed to provide near-continuous communications between Earth-based control centers and spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Before the system, missions depended more heavily on scattered ground stations, creating gaps in coverage. The TDRS network became especially important for shuttle flights and later supported observatories such as Hubble.
STS-6 also carried a second major first: astronauts Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson performed the first Space Shuttle-era spacewalk. The mission lasted five days and ended with Challenger’s landing at Edwards Air Force Base on April 9. The answer is sometimes confused with later shuttle missions that deployed additional TDRS satellites, but STS-6 launched the first one.