The TDRS-C satellite was launched aboard during the STS-26 mission in 1988; the first Shuttle flight since the "Challenger" disaster 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 UTC 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.