PARIS — The launch of the EchoStar 17 Ka-band broadband satellite, formerly called Jupiter, has been delayed for an undetermined amount of time to give manufacturer Space Systems/Loral time to make last-minute checks on the spacecraft, industry officials said.
EchoStar 17 had been set for a June 19 launch aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket. Europe’s MSG-3 geostationary-orbiting meteorological satellite will be a co-passenger on the same rocket.
Industry officials said that as of May 25, there were indications that the issue could resolve itself in time for a late-June launch from Europe’s Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, on South America’s northeast coast.
EchoStar 17 will be used to expand Hughes Network Systems’ HughesNet consumer satellite broadband service in the United States. It is one of a new generation of high-throughput satellites and is capable of generating some 140 gigabits per second of throughput, much like the Loral-built ViaSat-1 satellite that Hughes’ competitor, ViaSat, has been operating since January.