EchoStar XVII


EchoStar XVII or EchoStar 17, also known as Jupiter 1, is an American geostationary high throughput communications satellite which is operated by Hughes Network Systems, a subsidiary of EchoStar. It is positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 107.1° West, from where it is used for satellite internet access over HughesNet.
EchoStar XVII was built by Space Systems/Loral, and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus. It measures by by, with solar arrays which were deployed after launch, and generates a minimum of 16.1 kilowatts of power. The spacecraft had a mass at liftoff of, and is expected to operate for fifteen years. It carries sixty transponders which is used to cover North America.
EchoStar XVII was launched by Arianespace, using an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket flying from ELA-3 at Kourou. The spacecraft was launched at 21:36 UTC on 5 July 2012. The MSG-3 weather satellite was launched aboard the same rocket, mounted below EchoStar XVII, which was atop a Sylda 5 adaptor. The launch successfully placed both satellites into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. EchoStar XVII used its own propulsion system to manoeuvre into a geostationary orbit.

Path or geostationary orbit