Editing Relay program (section)

==Relay 2 {{anchor|Relay 2}}==<!-- redirect target and direct link from other articles -->
[[File:Project Relay antenna - GPN-2003-00019.jpg|thumb|Project Relay ground station]]
'''Relay 2''' (COSPAR satellite ID: Relay 2 1964-003A) was launched atop a [[Delta B]] rocket (373/D-23) on January 21, 1964, from [[LC-17B]] at [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]].<ref name=":0" /> Apogee was 7600 and perigee 1870&nbsp;km. 

It was physically similar to Relay 1. Design changes in this satellite improved its performance so response to spurious commands was essentially eliminated.

NASA ceased operations with Relay 2 on September 26, 1965, with the repurposing of the [[Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex|Mojave Desert Ground Station]], the only one in the world equipped to communicate with the satellite, for use with the [[Applications Technology Satellite]] program. The final broadcast was of Sen. B. Everett Jordon (D-N.C.) opening the week-long International Exposition of the American Textile Machinery Association in Exposition Hall in Atlantic City.<ref name="aa1965">{{cite web|url=https://history.nasa.gov/AAchronologies/1965.pdf|title=Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1965|publisher=NASA|access-date=24 April 2020|pages=449–450}}</ref>

One of the two onboard [[transponder]]s operated normally until November 20, 1966. From that time until its failure on January 20, 1967, it required a longer time than normal to come on. The other transponder continued to operate until June 9, 1967, when it too failed to operate normally.