EchoStar Corporation has announced an amended agreement with Maxar Technologies for production of the EchoStar XXIV satellite, also known as JUPITER™ 3. The satellite, designed for EchoStar’s Hughes Network Systems division, is under production at Maxar’s facility in Palo Alto, CA. The amended agreement compensates EchoStar for past production delays by providing relief on future payments and expands EchoStar’s recourse in the event of any further delays. The satellite is currently planned to launch in the first half of 2023.
“Launching and bringing the Hughes JUPITER 3 satellite into service is our highest priority to meet our customers’ needs for connectivity,” said Hamid Akhavan, CEO, EchoStar. “This agreement ensures that Maxar shares that priority with us and reinforces our joint commitment to complete production of the satellite to world-class standards, as expeditiously as possible.”
“We look forward to continuing our strong collaboration with EchoStar to complete construction of the JUPITER 3 satellite in line with the current schedule,” said Daniel Jablonsky, President and CEO, Maxar. “This agreement underscores Maxar’s state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities as we enter into the final phases of construction of this ground-breaking spacecraft.”
Once in service, JUPITER 3 will deliver over 500 Gbps of high-throughput satellite capacity, doubling the size of the Hughes JUPITER fleet over North and South America. The satellite will bring ample capacity to grow the company’s flagship satellite internet service, HughesNet®, and help meet consumer, aeronautical and enterprise demand for more bandwidth and higher speeds.
The satellite is now undergoing final integration in preparation for dynamics testing. Remaining work on the satellite consists of the launch dynamics test, final spacecraft performance tests and shipment to the launch base.
