SpaceX lines up Monday night launch of a pay-TV satellite
Every now and then, SpaceX has a customer other than itself including a planned launch Monday night that won’t be the company’s Starlink satellites. Instead, it’s looking to send a pay-TV satellite to space for EchoStar Corp.
A Falcon 9 rocket on the EchoStar XXV mission is aiming to send the communications company’s satellite to a geosynchronous transfer orbit after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a 149-minute window that opens at 11:19 p.m.
Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a 90% chance for good conditions at the launch site, which improves to 95% in the event of a 24-hour delay.
The first-stage booster for the mission is making its 14th trip to space, and will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
EchoStar’s business includes a variety of telecom brands including Boost Mobile, Sling TV and DISH TV.
The EchoStar XXV is the first of two new satellites constructed by Lanteris Space with the follow-on satellite, EchoStar XXVI, not set to launch until 2028. The two have driven the majority of more than $450 million in construction costs in 2025, according to its most recent quarterly report. The company earned $15 billion in the most recent quarter and has 7 million pay-TV subscribers, including 5.02 million DISH TV subscribers and 1.98 million Sling TV subscribers.