Relay Credit - NASA

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-stabilized 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.

Typical orbit: 1640 km x 7490 km at 47 degrees inclination. Mass: 78 kg (171 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: Delta B.

• 1962 December 13 - Relay 1 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Delta B. Mass: 78 kg (171 lb). Perigee: 1,319 km (819 mi). Apogee: 7,440 km (4,620 mi). Inclination: 47.50 deg. Period: 185.10 min.

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

• 1964 January 21 - Relay 2 - Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Delta B. Mass: 78 kg (171 lb). Perigee: 1,961 km (1,218 mi). Apogee: 7,540 km (4,680 mi). Inclination: 46.40 deg. Period: 194.70 min.

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

• JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Accessed at: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.

• NASA Report, Project Relay Communication Performance Interim Report No. 1, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660082542_1966082542.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

• NASA Report, Project Relay - Quality Control Procedures and Flow Charts, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670081407_1967081407.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

• NASA Report, The Relay I Radiation Effects Experiment, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660030609_1966030609.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

• NASA Report, Operations with an Experimental Satellite, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19630007327_1963007327.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!

• Aerospace Yearbook, 1966, .

• USAF Satellite Database, USAF Institute of Technology, 1995. Accessed at: ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/.

• Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. Accessed at: http://www.skyrocket.de/space.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• NASA Report, Relay I Program Final Report, . Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660000937_1966000937.pdf. -right click to download pdfs!