1964-01-21 USA Relay-2 TV Satellite

A Relay-2 communications satellite launch cover from "SpaceCraft", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on January 21, 1964.

The launch of Relay-2 on January 21, 1964, marked an important milestone in the development of satellite communications. NASA launched the 184-pound spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 17B aboard a Thor-Delta B rocket. As an experimental communications satellite, Relay-2 was designed to demonstrate and advance the practical applications of active communications satellites.

Relay-2 succeeded Relay-1 and incorporated improvements based on its predecessor's experience. Its communications equipment was capable of relaying television, telephone, and high-speed data transmissions, while onboard experiments investigated the effects of radiation on spacecraft electronics.

Relay-2 helped bridge the gap between early experimental communications satellites and the global satellite communications systems that emerged later in the 1960s, including INTELSAT.