The world's largest ComSat ever built launches on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket
by Charles Briggs
Space Coast FL (SPX) Jul 28, 2023

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, launched for the seventh time, was scheduled to lift off on July 26th at 11:04 p.m. EDT, a violation of abort criteria has forced the mission to be scrubbed with 1 minute and 5 seconds left on the clock.

The company had to delay the mission from July 27th "To complete vehicle checkouts".

Hughes Network Systems's Jupiter 3/EchoStar XXIV satellite launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on July 28th at 11:04 p.m. EDT (0304 UTC July 29) from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A to be deployed 3 hours after liftoff into Geostationary Orbit, about 22,200 miles (35,700 kilometers) above Earth.

Maxar Technologies built the 20,300-lb (9,200-kg) satellite. This is the heaviest communication satellite ever launched. It will enable nearly 80% of the people in the Americas to access Hughes's satellite internet service.

Jupiter 3 has a 15-year lifespan and is equipped with batteries and two deployable solar panels to power the antennas, which have 300 spot beams for better coverage and a capability of 500 GB/s of throughput.

According to the vice president of corporate communications at EchoStar, Sharyn Nerenberg, "The Hughes' Jupiter fleet of satellites is actually the largest Ka-band fleet across the Americas." Currently, there are five satellites in the constellation.

Eight and a half minutes after liftoff, the two side boosters performed return-to-launch site landings at SpaceX's Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), and due to the weight of the payload, the core booster was expended.

This year has been the busiest yet for Falcon Heavy, with the Jupiter 3 mission marking the launch vehicle's third flight in 2023.

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