Powerful SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launches Huge Satellite in 250th Successful Mission
The SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched Hughes Network Systems’ huge Jupiter 3 satellite into orbit. This was made possible by a powerful rocket during the company’s 250th successful mission.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched a huge satellite into orbit
On Friday evening, SpaceX launched Hughes Network Systems’ Jupiter 3 satellite. It is designed to modernize the approach to space-based internet access. The Falcon Heavy rocket lifted the satellite nearly 18,000 miles above the Earth’s surface before releasing it into orbit three and a half hours after launch. Jupiter 3, also called EchoStar XXIV, is the largest commercial communications satellite ever built.
Jupiter 3 will improve the quality of Hughes’ internet connection
The huge satellite will be put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2023. It should quadruple Hughes’ download speed to 100 megabits per second. Unlike other companies, Hughes has only launched one huge satellite.
Jupiter 3 is the only nine-ton satellite in the world. It is about the size of a bus, 27 feet long and 127 feet wide when its solar panels are deployed. Jupiter 3 is designed to orbit the Earth in sync with the planet’s rotation in a much higher geostationary orbit at 22,236 miles above the equator. It has a selected location, which means that antennas on Earth can be pointed at it without having to reconnect to different satellites.
SpaceX has guaranteed the affordability of space for many companies
Previously, the possibility of going into space was extremely limited. The reason for this was the very high cost of rocket launches due to the fact that they were disposable. However, SpaceX has revolutionized rocket science by designing rockets in such a way that their most expensive parts are reusable. This dramatically reduced the cost of launches. This, in turn, made launches affordable to a wider range of companies.
Falcon Heavy has a special value. The rocket is capable of launching up to 64 metric tons of payload into low Earth orbit or 27 metric tons into a geostationary transfer orbit.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch marks 250th successful mission
When launching Jupiter 3, SpaceX decided not to restore the center section of its Falcon Heavy rocket. This was done to make sure it had enough fuel to carry its bulky payload into its intended orbit. However, the craft’s two side boosters landed successfully and epically at SpaceX’s dual landing pad in Florida. The same boosters were used in two previous Falcon Heavy missions.
Friday’s launch was the third for the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in 2023. It is also the company’s 51st mission to orbit this year and the 250th successful mission overall.