[4] TDRS-D was deployed from Discovery a few hours after launch, and was raised to geostationary orbit by means of an Inertial Upper Stage.

The first stage burn occurred shortly after deployment from Discovery, and placed the satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

At 03:30 UTC on 14 March 1989, it reached apogee, and the second stage fired, placing TDRS-D into geostationary orbit.

[6] TDRS-4 completed its planned mission in December 2011, and was subsequently removed to a graveyard orbit 350 kilometres (220 mi) above GEO orbit belt, per International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations (UN) recommendations.

[8] In May 2012, NASA reported that the orbit-raising manoeuvre had been completed successfully, and the spacecraft had been retired.