The launch of a Hughes Network Systems satellite was on the docket for 11:04 p.m. last night at Cape Canaveral, reported CNET. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, which will send the satellite into orbit, seeks to modernize spaced-based broadband with the Jupiter 3 satellite, slated to become active in Q3 2023.
CNET reported that Jupiter 3, built by Maxar Technologies in California should quadruple Hughes’ download speeds to 100 Mbps. The single, nine-ton satellite is equivalent to the size of a city bus (27 feet long by 127 feet wide) when its solar panels are opened. Jupiter 3 will have a fixed place in geostationary orbit, 22,236 miles above the equator.
Jupiter 3 could be a game changer for rural customers in remote areas who have difficulty getting online, according to CNET. The satellite has a total communication capacity of 500 Gbps and can communicate with Hughes’ terrestrial terminals. According to Mark Wymer, Hughes’ senior vice president of business development and strategy, “We’ve colocated those in data centers where a lot of major content players house their data to eliminate delays and latency.”
CNET reported that satellite broadband could become critical for areas affected by war or natural disasters. Ukraine has relied on SpaceX’s Starlink terminals amidst the Russian invasion, and Hughes works with FEMA to construct cell phone networks post-disaster. “We can go in within a moment’s notice and establish or reestablish those communication lines,” Wymer said.
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