The Communication Moon Relay project (also known as simply Moon Relay, or, alternatively, Operation Moon Bounce) was a telecommunication project carried out by the United States Navy. 

Its objective was to develop a secure and reliable method of wireless communication by using the Moon as a natural communications satellite – a technique known as EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) communications.

Communication Moon Relay grew out of many ideas and concepts in radio espionage. 


Some impetus for the project was provided by post-World War II efforts to develop methods of tracking radio signals, particularly those originating in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

The communication moon relay is also used a lot in the detection of radars.

Expansion

The Moon Relay project was soon transferred to the Communications Section of the Radar Division of the Naval Research Laboratory. 

Under this department, the system was upgraded to use the ultra high frequency (UHF) band. 

The experimental system was transformed into a fully operational lunar relay system linking Hawaii with Washington, DC, which became functional in 1959. 

The new system was officially inaugurated in January 1960, when Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke sent a message to Commander, Pacific Fleet Felix Stump using the system.

The finished system used two sets of transmitters at Annapolis, Maryland and the Opana Radar Site in Hawaii and two sets of receivers at Cheltenham, Maryland and Wahiawa, Hawaii. It was later expanded to accommodate ship-to-shore transmissions to and from the USS Oxford (AGTR-1).


Result – moon relay system helping the artificial satellite to perform well.

The Moon Relay system became obsolete in the later 1960s as the Navy implemented its artificial satellite communication system. 

However, the information gleaned from the project in fact made the later artificial system possible. 

Additionally, the equipment used in the Communications Moon Relay project was of much use to U.S. Navy astronomers, as they used it to examine the Moon when the Moon was not in a position conducive to radio transmission. 

Although relatively short-lived, the Moon Relay served as a bridge to modern American military satellite systems.