Relay - Credit: NASA. 17,600 bytes. 216 x 379 pixels.

Relay was a communications satellite of the active repeater type, in which signals from one ground station were picked up and rebroadcast to another station by the satellite's internal equipment. A NASA project, Relay was a 78 kg, spin-stabilised spacecraft boosted by a Delta launch vehicle. The first Relay satellite was launched December 13, 1962, and it remained operational for more than 2 years. Relay 2, launched January 21, 1964, was used in thousands of tests and experiments and in some 40 public demonstrations through September 1965.

Total Mass: 78 kg.

Communications satellite technology tests. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).

Experimental commsat. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).

• 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
• 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
• 405 - Aerospace Yearbook, 1966, .