SpaceX is looking ahead of the Coronavirus outbreak as it lands yet another launch contract. The global communications satellite operator Intelsat has chosen to launch its Maxar (SSL)-built Intelsat-40e communications satellite via a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The launch will take place in 2022. The Intelsat-40e will be launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) on its way to its final operational position in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO).
While primarily used to provide Ku- and Ka-band communications services to the continental USA as part of the Intelsat Epic fleet, partially replacing the failed Intelsat 29e, the Intelsat 40e spacecraft is also carrying a hosted pollution monitoring payload for NASA called TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution).
