SpaceX, the space exploration business founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is set to launch the world’s largest commercial communications satellite today. According to Space.com, a Falcon Heavy rocket will launch Jupiter 3, Maxar Technologies’ heaviest satellite to date. Falcon Heavy’s side rockets will return to Earth eight minutes after launch and land on Landing Zones 1 and 2.
“Falcon Heavy is vertical at Launch Complex 39A ahead of tonight’s launch,” SpaceX announced in a tweet. The 99-minute window starts at 11.04 p.m. ET, and the weather is expected to be 85% favourable for liftoff.”
Here’s all you need to know about SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy:
- The Falcon Heavy rocket that will send JUPITER 3 into orbit will take out from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida’s Launch Complex-39A.
- It is SpaceX’s seventh triple-booster rocket launch.
- According to Space.com, the Jupiter 3 will join the Hughes Jupiter satellite fleet already in orbit.
- Jupiter 3’s wingspan will be comparable to that of a commercial aircraft, which can vary from 130 to 160 feet.
- The satellite will provide services like in-flight Wi-Fi and will supplement private Wi-Fi usage with other wireless technologies.
SpaceX and Indonesia launched a satellite from the United States last week with the goal of extending high-speed internet to distant locations across the island country. The European-built SATRIA-1 was launched on July 19 from a Florida launch facility by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
President Joko Widodo of Indonesia described it as the country’s “first government-owned multi-function satellite with the largest capacity in Asia.”
The device is expected to be operational by 2024 and will provide a connection speed of 150 gigabytes per second, which is three times faster than the archipelago’s present satellite internet bandwidth.
In May, SpaceX launched two Saudi astronauts to the International orbit Station, including the country’s first woman in orbit.
On May 22, a SpaceX capsule docked with the ISS as part of a private mission chartered by Axiom Space.
The Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) crew launched from the Kennedy Space Centre aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.