Falcon Heavy Will Launch Alaska Communications Satellite

A commercial communications satellite set up to provide a service to Alaska from geostationary orbit will be launched by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket as a secondary payload in the spring of 2022. The Astranis satellite launch will be a direct-injection mission, allowing the spacecraft to arrive in its orbital slot within days of launch and eliminate the need for a multi-month orbit from a highly elliptical geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

"The launch of the Falcon Heavy will bring us into orbit months faster, which will allow us to serve customers in Alaska so much earlier. This is a huge profit for our customers in Alaska."

Astranis CEO John Hedmark.

"The launch of the Falcon Heavy will bring us into orbit months faster, which will allow us to serve customers in Alaska so much earlier. This is a huge profit for our customers in Alaska," said Astranis CEO John Hedmark.

The change of the launch vehicle from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 follows the successful launch of a large-scale demonstration satellite into orbit, the successful completion of thermal-vacuum tests on a qualified ship, and the successful completion of their critical design review. Astranis recently announced that the satellite is in its final stages of assembly after a successful end-to-end payload demonstration that showed results above specifications.

Astranis’ small communications satellite is designed for geostationary orbit to serve Alaska, which has long faced one of the sharpest digital divisions in the United States. According to Broadband Now, 39% of Alaska residents are underserved when it comes to Internet access – the highest percentage of all states. The Astranis satellite will triple the approximate available satellite capacity in Alaska, while reducing costs by up to a third of current prices for both residential and wholesale customers.

"Working with the entire Astranis team was a great experience and we are excited to see that our satellite is ready to launch," said Pacific Dataport CEO Chuck Schumann. "There are more than 100,000 Alaskans who are ready for affordable broadband, and Astranis is helping us provide them with modern connectivity. This is a really big deal for Alaska."

(Source: Astranis news release. NASA image from file)