A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is set to launch Hughes Network Systems’ new Jupiter 3 satellite into orbit at 8 p.m. PT Wednesday, a move that could modernize an old-school approach to space-based internet access.
When it goes into service in the fourth quarter of 2023, Jupiter 3 should quadruple Hughes’ download speeds to 100 megabits per second, making the technology more useful in a data-hungry world. Hughes hasn’t yet revealed prices for the faster new service.
Launching a single massive communications satellite contrasts sharply with much of the satellite broadband innovation today from SpaceX’s Starlink and rivals like OneWeb and Amazon’s Kuiper. They employ “constellations” of hundreds of smaller, cheaper satellites orbiting relatively close in low Earth orbit.
Hughes’ Jupiter 3 couldn’t be more different. It’s a single nine-ton satellite the size of a bus — 27 feet long and 127 feet wide once its solar panels are deployed. It’s designed to circle the Earth in sync with the planet’s rotation in a much higher geostationary orbit 22,236 miles above the equator. That choice parking place is fixed in the sky, meaning antennas can be pointed at it without having to reconnect with a constant parade of low Earth orbit satellites whizzing by closer to the planet.
Most of us are better served by cable or fiber-optic broadband that offers higher speeds and shorter communication delays, called latency. But for rural customers and others who are beyond the reach of more conventional network technology, satellite communications can play a key role connecting people who are hard to bring online.
“These folks that haven’t experienced these types of service levels ever before,” said Mark Wymer, Hughes’ senior vice president of business development and strategy.