SpaceX is poised to launch the world’s largest business communications satellite.
On Wednesday (July 26), a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch Maxar Technologies’ largest ever satellite, the Jupiter 3. The communications platform will join others within the Hughes Jupiter satellite fleet already in orbit, which provides broadband web services to North and South America. Based on a Hughes statement, the satellite shall be the world’s largest business communications satellite once it’s fully deployed.
Once deployed, Jupiter 3’s size will rival the wingspan of a business airliner, which may range from 130-160 feet (40-50 meters). The Falcon Heavy slated to hold JUPITER 3 to orbit will liftoff from Launch Complex-39A, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. This shall be the seventh launch for SpaceX’s triple-booster rocket, which first debuted to much fan-fare in 2018.
Related: Wow! Maxar satellite captures up-close take a look at NASA’s Landsat 8 spacecraft in orbit
The upgraded spacecraft is headed to geostationary orbit and can double the prevailing data rate capabilities of the Hughes fleet. Jupiter 3 will support services comparable to in-flight Wi-Fi and low-latency web plans to enhance home Wi-Fi usage with other wireless technologies.
Jupiter 3 features an updated technological architecture which has allowed for the miniaturization of the satellite’s electronics, the inclusion of solid-state amplifies and a boosted efficiency for its antennas, in keeping with a statement on Maxar’s website.
SpaceX is targeting 11:04 p.m. EDT (1504 GMT) on July 26 for the Jupiter 3 launch, and can expend its core booster within the Atlantic Ocean following first-stage separation moderately than attempt a drone-ship landing at sea.
Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters will perform boost-back burns following their separation, for near-simultaneous returns to the Cape at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and a pair of, about 8.5 minutes after liftoff.