The eleventh Tracking and Data Relay Satellite is the first third-generation spacecraft.

Fully fuelled, it has a mass of 3,454 kilograms (7,615 lb), and is expected to operate for 15 years.

[1] It carries two steerable antennas capable of providing S, Ku and Ka band communications for other spacecraft, plus an array of additional S-band transponders to allow communications at a lower data rate with greater numbers of spacecraft.

[5] Liftoff occurred from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and the rocket placed its payload into a geostationary transfer orbit.

After its arrival on-station at 171 degrees west the satellite began its final phase of testing prior to entry into service at the end of November.