A relay dish, also known as a communications relay, served as a vital piece of communications equipment for military organizations, enabling the transmission and reception of signals.
A communications relay typically incorporated a primary dish that housed an antenna. These relays facilitated the sending, receiving, and, in some instances, the interception of transmissions.
The Galactic Empire military made extensive use of communications relays, which were frequently observed on top of Imperial ground installations throughout Imperial-controlled planets. Furthermore, each KX-series security droids deployed by the Empire was equipped with a complete comm relay.
As an optional enhancement, the First Order's TIE/fo space superiority fighter could be outfitted with a Comm Relay upgrade.
While the comm booth and holobooth offered comparable functionality, they were designed as public communication stations.
Communications relay installations were present on numerous Imperial worlds, including Mustafar, Stygeon Prime, and Lothal. Notably, during the Imperial occupation of Lothal, a rebel cell known as the Spectres conducted a sabotage operation that disabled a communications relay at an Imperial facility along with the facility itself. Ezra Bridger, a rebel, initiated the assault on the facility using a captured All Terrain Missile Platform during the extraction of Dorthu Santim, an Ithorian rebel sympathizer. Subsequently, Hera Syndulla, the rebel group's leader, arrived in her modified VCX-100 light freighter, the Ghost, and deployed Sabine Wren, who infiltrated the Imperial base amidst the resulting chaos among its personnel and carried out the sabotage.
Jalindi Station was a large relay dish that the Galactic Empire engineered and put into service.