Jupiter 3 performing “nominally”
August 1, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Jupiter 3, a massive satellite owned by EchoStar and serving clients of Hughes Communications which was launched on July 29th, is performing “nominally” – which is good news for its owner.
The satellite, manufactured by Maxar Technologies, began sending and receiving its first signals shortly after launch, and engineers deployed Jupiter 3’s important solar arrays, which unfolded in space to their full ten-story span.
Maxar stated that the satellite, the largest communications satellite ever launched, is performing as expected.
“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 SVP/GM 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 customised architecture based on a broad range of technology advances, including industry-first Q- and V-band gateway feeder links, the miniaturisation of electronics, solid state amplifiers and highly efficient spot beam antenna designs,” added Maxar.