Liftoff is scheduled for 11:04 p.m. ET tonight (July 26).
The Heavy consists of three strapped-together first stages of the company's workhorseThese first stages are designed to be reusable, and SpaceX will attempt to land two of them back on terra firma about eight minutes after liftoff tonight. The central booster, however, won't have enough fuel left over for the return trip and will ditch into the ocean after launch.
That latter detail speaks to the immense size of Jupiter 3 and how far away it's headed — toward geostationary orbit , which lies about 22,200 miles above Earth. The satellite, which was built by Maxar Technologies and will service customers in the United States and Latin America, weighs 10.1 tons , making it heavier than any payload ever launched toward GEO. When fully deployed, Jupiter 3 will feature a wingspan similar to that of a commercial airliner, according to Hughes.
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