TRACE, carried a 30-cm extreme ultraviolet imaging telescope for studies of the sun. Lockheed was the lead contractor while the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory made the telescope mirrors. TRACE had a field of view of 8.5 arcmin and a resolution of 1 arcsecond. TRACE was placed in a sun-synchronous orbit, enabling it to make continuous observation of the sun.

Typical orbit: 627 km circular orbit, 97.8 deg inclination.

• 1998 April 2 - TRACE - Program: Small Explorer. Launch Site: Point Arguello WADZ. Launch Complex: -. Launch Vehicle: Pegasus. Perigee: 602 km (374 mi). Apogee: 652 km (405 mi). Inclination: 97.80 deg. Period: 97.10 min.
  NASA's third Small Explorer, the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), was successfully launched by an Orbital Pegasus XL. The L-1011 carrier aircraft took off from Vandenberg and dropped the Pegasus over the Pacific Ocean. TRACE, a project led by Lockheed's solar physics group, carried a 30-cm extreme ultraviolet imaging telescope which will study the Sun. The telescope mirrors were made by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. TRACE had an 8.5 arcmin field of view and 1 arcsecond resolution.