Intelsat’s Galaxy 37 safely launched
August 3, 2023
By Chris Forrester
SpaceX has launched Galaxy 37 for Intelsat. Lift-off took place at 01:00 EDT on August 3rd on a SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.
“This launch completes our comprehensive Galaxy fleet refresh plan started about 10 months ago,” said Dave Wajsgras, CEO at Intelsat. “This milestone is now a part of the 40-year Galaxy legacy – satellites our North American customers have relied on for decades. It also marks the 20-year anniversary of our JSAT partnership. This joint venture has allowed both companies to serve more customers in more places throughout the world.”
The launch was the 52nd for SpaceX this year and the sixth flight for this particular Falcon 9 booster 1077, which first flew in October 2022 carrying a Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. The booster landed on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ about eight and a half minutes after launch.
The rocket carried the five-metric-tonne Intelsat Galaxy 37 communications satellite which is equipped with four deployable antenna reflectors for both C-band and Ku-band transmissions. It will serve television and telecommunication networks and the US Government in North America.
The Ku-band payload, which offers mobile communication services, is jointly owned by Intelsat and Japan’s JSAT International.
The satellite was built by Maxar Technologies. It is the last in a series of satellites to refresh Intelsat’s Galaxy fleet of satellites which operate over North America.
The satellite will take about three weeks to manoeuvre itself into geostationary orbit about 35,500 kilometres above the equator. Testing will take place over Hawaii at about 148 degrees West. Once that checkout is completed it will drift to 127 degrees West. The satellite is expected to enter service in early October. It is expected to remain in operation for at least 18 years.