JUPITER 3 carries 14 solar panels that when fully deployed could span a 10-story building.
Jupiter-3 unseats Telesat’s Telstar-19 Vantage, which had a launch mass of roughly 7,076 kg, as the largest commercial communications satellite ever deployed.
JUPITER 3 will join the Hughes JUPITER fleet, which includes four other Maxar-built spacecraft.
SpaceX launched EchoStar’s Jupiter-3 spacecraft on 2023-07-28 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on a dedicated Falcon Heavy at 11:04 p.m. Eastern.
Maxar Technologies described Jupiter-3 as about the size of a standard school bus when antennas and solar panels are stowed and having a wingspan comparable to a Boeing 737 when fully deployed.
JUPITER 3 is built on Maxar’s 1300 platform.
Jupiter-3 was deployed on the third Falcon Heavy mission of 2023.
Jupiter-3 is expected to add 500 gigabits per second of capacity and to double the capacity of EchoStar’s Jupiter fleet after reaching the 95 degrees west orbital slot and completing health checks.
EchoStar initially planned to launch Jupiter-3 in 2021 but pandemic-related production issues at Maxar and other satellite manufacturers delayed the launch.
Falcon Heavy launched the Jupiter-3 spacecraft to a geosynchronous transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on 2023-07-28 at 11:04 p.m. ET.
JUPITER 3 was launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
EchoStar ordered Jupiter-3, also called EchoStar-24, in 2017 from Space Systems Loral before the company rebranded as Maxar Technologies.
One minute and five seconds before a previously planned launch attempt on 2023-07-26, SpaceX halted the Jupiter-3 Falcon Heavy countdown with no explanation provided.
EchoStar expects to complete Jupiter-3 health checks in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The 2023-07-28 Falcon Heavy launch delivered a nine metric ton Jupiter-3 spacecraft to geosynchronous transfer orbit.
JUPITER 3 carries 14 solar panels that when fully deployed could span a 10-story building.
The 2023-04-30 Falcon Heavy mission prior to Jupiter-3 carried ViaSat-3 Americas, a 5.6 metric ton satellite operated by Viasat.
One minute and five seconds before a planned launch on Wednesday, 2023-07-26, SpaceX halted the Jupiter 3 launch with no explanation provided at that time.
Hughes Network Systems operates JUPITER 3 (EchoStar XXIV) and identifies the satellite as the largest commercial communications satellite ever built.
EchoStar is positioned for subscriber and revenue growth from the Jupiter 3 broadband satellite that Maxar delivered for a planned Falcon Heavy launch in the coming months.