Hughes Network Systems (an EchoStar company) revealed on 9 August that it had placed an order with American satellite manufacturer SSL for a third “Jupiter” satellite-based internet spacecraft, ECHOSTAR 24/JUPITER 3. The satellite will be capable of a total throughput of 500 Gbps and is intended to be Hughes’ answer to Viasat Inc’s upcoming VIASAT-3 spacecraft – reported to have a total throughput of 1 Tbps.
The satellite is expected to be launched in 2021 (a year later than the first forecasted VIASAT-3). No launch contract has been announced at this time.
SSL also confirmed that this Hughes spacecraft is the 500 Gbps capacity HTS satellite contract mentioned in its second-quarter 2017 earnings call at the end of July.
Corporate logo of Hughes Network Systems (an Echostar company). Courtesy of Hughes.
