Wormhole relay station
The Federation's wormhole relay station or relay satellite was a subspace relay station that allowed communications from the Alpha Quadrant to pass through the Bajoran wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant between 2371 and 2373.
Though Starfleet and Bajor discovered that communication through the wormhole were possible, it was unreliable.
In order to communicate through to the Gamma Quadrant, the wormhole had to be open. Otherwise, the wormhole's interference made it impossible.
In addition, subspace communications that did not go through the wormhole could take around 20 years to reach its intended destination.
History
The disastrous first contact between the Dominion and the Federation created a growing need to have a reliable communications conduit to the Gamma Quadrant so that Dominion activity could be monitored.
In 2371, the Bajorans put behind fifty years of hatred towards the Cardassians when one of their leaders brokered a historic peace treaty between Bajor and the Cardassian Union.
Overseen by the Bajoran Emissary, Benjamin Sisko, this treaty paved the way for the wormhole relay station's construction.
To aid in construction, the Cardassian government sent three scientists. Unfortunately, the relay's first test produced no results, and the team conducted a second test using a different subspace frequency.
The second test accidently opened the wormhole, causing a passing nearby comet to be caught in its gravity and be drawn in to the wormhole.
Fulfilling an old Bajoran prophecy in the process, the comet caused a small hole in the wormhole, which ended up being large enough for the relay station to work.
The relay station completed its mission in 2373, when Lieutenant Commander Worf and former Cardassian spy Elim Garak found a Dominion fleet hiding inside a nebula close to the wormhole.
Worf sent a message to the relay station, warning Deep Space 9 about the impending invasion. After that message was clearly sent and received, the Domonion disabled the probe.
Construction
The wormhole relay station consisted of a Star Fleet-produced signaling platform, which was positioned two kilometers from the wormhole entrance.
It also contained a Cardassian transceiver powered by a Star Fleet power grid. The transceiver assembly sent a subspace carrier wave through the wormhole to a second transceiver, located on Deep Space 9.
