Maxar’s Largest
Ever Satellite, Hughes JUPITER 3,
Performing Well After Launch
July 29, 2023
Maxar Technologies,
provider of comprehensive space
solutions and secure, precise,
geospatial intelligence, today announced
that the largest commercial
communications satellite ever built, the
JUPITER™ 3 satellite for Hughes, an
EchoStar company, is performing as
expected after launch yesterday. The
spacecraft was manufactured by Maxar in
Palo Alto, California, and launched on a
SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.
“Maxar continues to
serve the GEO communications market and
push the boundaries for what is
possible, and JUPITER 3 shows that
thinking in action.”
Shortly after
liftoff, the satellite, which is also
called EchoStar XXIV, deployed its solar
arrays and began receiving and sending
signals. The 14 solar panels on board
when fully deployed could span a
10-story building.
“JUPITER 3 shows
the scalability of our versatile Maxar
1300™ platform, whose most powerful
variants serve high-bandwidth
communications missions and will drive
deep space missions like NASA’s
Gateway,” said Chris Johnson, Maxar’s
Senior Vice President and General
Manager of Space. “Maxar continues to
serve the GEO communications market and
push the boundaries for what is
possible, and JUPITER 3 shows that
thinking in action.”
JUPITER 3 is an
ultra high-density, high-capacity and
high-throughput satellite that will join
the Hughes JUPITER fleet, which includes
four other Maxar-built spacecraft. The
new satellite features customized
architecture based on a broad range of
technology advances, including
industry-first Q- and V-band gateway
feeder links, the miniaturization of
electronics, solid state amplifiers and
highly efficient spot beam antenna
designs.