10/09/23 - How JUPITER™ 3 Stays in the Stars

Hughes has been connecting families across the Americas for decades with HughesNet® – the reliable satellite internet service you’ve come to depend on. But have you ever wondered how Hughes keeps its satellites running thousands of miles away from Earth for many years to come?

 

The newest Hughes satellite, JUPITER™ 3, relies on a suite of star tracking sensors that constantly monitor where the satellite is relative to the Earth. These sensors have an entire star field in their memory and are an incredibly accurate way of determining the satellite’s exact position in space!

 

JUPITER 3 uses this data to fire its thrusters, which are tiny rockets attached to the satellite to adjust the satellite’s position in space and help it remain in its designated 40km x 40km orbital slot.

 

Want to learn more fundamentals of how satellite internet communications work? Check out this unique augmented reality (AR) experience brought to you by HughesNet and 4-H: https://satellitear.4-h.org/