Dish launches first new broadband satellite in 16 years
A rendering of EchoStar XXV, a direct broadcast satellite that will deliver television content across North America — Dish’s first new broadcast satellite in 16 years. Credit: Lanteris Space Systems
## Mission Highlight: EchoStar XXV
SpaceX is targeting tonight, Monday, March 9, at 11:15 p.m. EST for the launch of EchoStar XXV from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on a Falcon 9 booster. This particular booster is making its 14th flight and will carry the satellite to geostationary orbit (GEO) at 110° west longitude. From this vantage point above the Pacific Ocean and off the western coast of Mexico, the satellite will transmit television to North America. The booster is expected to land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
EchoStar XXV is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) built by Lanteris Space Systems (formerly Maxar Space Systems), a Palo Alto-based satellite manufacturer. It is designed to send television signals directly to small dishes on homes and businesses across North America. According to Lanteris, the satellite uses multiple independently steerable beams to direct signal capacity where it’s needed most rather than broadcasting evenly across the continent. The satellite is built on the Lanteris 1300 series bus, a platform for GEO satellites that has been in production since 1989 and forms the backbone of more than 95 spacecraft currently on orbit. Its modular design has powered missions ranging from SiriusXM’s digital audio radio satellites to hardware supporting NASA’s Gateway lunar outpost.
For Dish, this launch is a long time coming. The company has not had a new broadcast satellite launch since EchoStar XV in 2010 — a 16-year gap during which the rise of streaming services has reshaped the television landscape. Charlie Ergen, Dish chairman, has been direct about why the company is still investing in geostationary infrastructure. “We don’t think that the [direct broadcast satellite] business is going away. It’s still the preferred choice for a lot of Americans in terms of an efficient way to watch TV,” he said, as quoted in a 2023 article from Light Reading. EchoStar XXV is the company’s answer to that conviction — and it won’t be the last. EchoStar has already contracted Lanteris to build EchoStar XXVI, scheduled for delivery in 2028.
## Other missions this week
Also **on Monday, March 9,** Firefly Aerospace is targeting 8:50 p.m. EST for the launch of its Alpha rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 West at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission, titled “Stairway to Seven,” is the seventh flight of the Alpha vehicle and has faced a series of delays in the lead-up to tonight’s attempt. Alpha is a small-lift launch vehicle capable of delivering up to approximately 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg) to low Earth orbit. This is the final flight for Alpha in its Block 1 configuration. The Block 2 configuration will feature updated batteries and avionics, which Firefly says will improve reliability and expand mission capabilities. With only two fully successful flights over six attempts, the Block 2 upgrades come at a critical moment for Firefly as the company works to stabilize Alpha’s track record.
**On Thursday, March 12,** SpaceX will continue its regular Starlink launch cadence with the Starlink Group 10-48 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:00 a.m. EST. The Falcon 9 booster will land on the droneship Just Read the Instructions.
**On Friday, March 13,** SpaceX will launch Starlink Group 17-31 from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:58 a.m. EST, with the booster targeting a landing on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
Closing out the week **on Sunday, March 15,** SpaceX will launch Starlink Group 10-46 from Cape Canaveral at 7:11 a.m. EST. The booster is expected to land on A Shortfall of Gravitas.
## Last week’s recap
The first full week of March opened with a SpaceX double-header. On Tuesday, March 4, SpaceX launched Starlink Group 10-40 from Cape Canaveral at 5:52 a.m. EST, with the booster landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas. Later that same evening, Space One attempted the third flight of its KAIROS rocket from Space Port Kii in Kushimoto, Japan, at 9:10 p.m. EST. The mission failed when the vehicle was lost during its second-stage burn. In a press release, Space One confirmed that the flight was suspended “during Step 2 of Mission 4,” adding that the company would “investigate the cause as soon as possible and make the necessary improvements.”
On Thursday, March 5, Rocket Lab successfully launched the “Insight At Speed Is A Friend Indeed” mission aboard an Electron rocket from its Māhia Peninsula launch site in New Zealand. The customer and payload for this mission are confidential.
The week wrapped up on Sunday, March 8, with SpaceX launching Starlink Group 17-18 from Vandenberg at 7:00 a.m. EST, with the booster landing on Of Course I Still Love You.
## Looking ahead
Next week brings a notably busy manifest. SpaceX has three Starlink missions scheduled across both coasts. On Wednesday, March 19, Rocket Lab will attempt to launch StriX-6, an Earth-observation satellite for Japanese company Synspective, from the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Also on March 19, German startup Isar Aerospace will attempt to fly its Spectrum rocket for only the second time, carrying its first payloads — CubeSats from European universities — from Andøya Rocket Range in Norway. And on Saturday, March 22, Roscosmos will launch the Progress MS-33 resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station from Baikonur.
Dish launches first new broadband satellite in 16 years Mission Highlight: EchoStar XXV SpaceX is targeting tonight, Monday, March 9, at 11:15 p.m. EST for the launch of EchoStar XXV from Space Lau...
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