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Is that a high number? An upcoming Viasat- 3 communication satellite is expected to weigh 6400 kg and one of them is planned to launch on an Atlas-V.
by billfruit 4y ago
Is that a high number? An upcoming Viasat- 3 communication satellite is expected to weigh 6400 kg and one of them is planned to launch on an Atlas-V.
- dotnet00 4y agoThe difference is that this is a full ride to GEO, so the satellite stays attached to the second stage and the second stage does the circularization burn at GEO. Thus it has a much higher mass penalty than most commercial launches, which are to GTO, where the rocket only puts the satellite on the path to GEO (a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit) and the satellite does the circularization burn at the destination. Even Falcon 9 can put a 6.4t satellite onto GTO in expendable mode and Falcon Heavy can while recovering all 3 boosters, but direct insertion into GEO of 6.4t would probably be stretching the limits of Falcon Heavy if even doable at all.