The Jupiter 3 satellite, also known as EchoStar 24, is owned by EchoStar, and Hughes pays EchoStar $190 million annually to lease its capacity.
Hughes has 783,000 subscribers to its Jupiter 3 Ka-band satellite, which was launched in December 2023.
The Falcon Heavy first-stage boosters supporting the Europa Clipper launch flew their sixth and final mission on 2024-10-14 after previously launching NASA’s Psyche, USSF-44, USSF-52, USSF-67, and Hughes JUPITER 3.
The Hughesnet plans powered by JUPITER 3 offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps, unlimited data, and Wi‑Fi capabilities.
JUPITER 3 provides services to subscribers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and Colombia.
JUPITER 3 is supported by a cloud-based ground system with a diverse private fiber backbone and network and traffic management that uses AI to monitor traffic and make real-time changes to reduce latency and maximize throughput.
JUPITER 3 is a geostationary satellite that uses Ka-band spectrum plus Q-band and V-band for gateways.
JUPITER 3 was launched in July 2023.
Jupiter-3 was initially slated to launch in 2021 but missed that schedule due to production issues at Maxar.
EchoStar’s broadband and satellite revenue decline for 2023 was primarily driven by a lack of capacity amid delays to launch its Americas-focused Jupiter-3 spacecraft and competitive pressure from satellite-based competitors and other technologies.
Jupiter-3 entered service on 2023-12-19, five months after launching on a Falcon Heavy.
Very High Throughput Satellites (VHTS), such as Jupiter-3 and Viasat-3, are essential for competing with capacity influx from constellation players.
Jupiter-3 is expected to drive GEO market growth in the Americas across broadband access, backhaul, and enterprise VSAT markets.
JUPITER 3 will provide over 500 Gbps of additional broadband capacity across North and South America.
JUPITER 3’s increased capacity will power new HughesNet satellite internet plans, including HughesNet Fusion Plans that use multipath technology to reduce latency.
JUPITER 3 will support Hughes’ efforts to provide internet access to rural customers across the Americas and to enable applications such as in-flight Wi‑Fi for airline passengers, enterprise networking, and cellular backhaul for mobile network operators.
EchoStar’s Jupiter-3 entered service 2023-12-19, five months after launching on a Falcon Heavy.
Jupiter-3 provides 500 gigabits per second of capacity over the Americas.
EchoStar is seeking to fill Jupiter-3’s 500 gigabits-per-second capacity over the Americas with new customers following prior bandwidth constraints that weighed on revenues.
Existing Hughes customers are interested in ordering new indoor modems to upgrade from Jupiter-2 to Jupiter-3 plans offering 50–100 Mbps.