SpaceX Successfully Launches EchoStar 25 Direct Television Satellite

Update March 10, 1:21 a.m. EDT (0531 UTC): SpaceX confirmed the successful deployment of the EchoStar-25 satellite.

On Monday night, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, carrying EchoStar 25, a direct television satellite for Dish Network (an EchoStar subsidiary), towards geostationary Earth orbit.

EchoStar 25 was initially placed into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, from where it will maneuver to its operational slot at 110 degrees West, directly above the equator.

The 70-meter-tall Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:19 a.m. EDT (0419 UTC), heading eastward over Florida's Space Coast.

Weather conditions were highly favorable for launch, with the 45th Weather Squadron predicting a 90% chance of success, noting only a slight risk from cumulus clouds.

The mission utilized Falcon 9 first stage booster B1085, marking its 14th flight. This booster had previously supported various missions, including NASA's Crew-9, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1, and Fram2.

Approximately 8.5 minutes post-launch, booster B1085 successfully landed on the autonomous drone ship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas' in the Atlantic Ocean. This marked the 146th successful landing on this particular vessel and SpaceX's 583rd booster recovery overall.

Deployment of the EchoStar 25 satellite from the Falcon 9's second stage occurred approximately 33 minutes after liftoff.

EchoStar had contracted Lanteris Space LLC (formerly Maxar Space Systems, now part of Intuitive Machines) on March 20, 2023, for the construction of the EchoStar 25 satellite. A separate launch agreement with SpaceX was finalized in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Built upon Lanteris’ robust 1300 Series satellite bus – a platform also used for missions such as NASA’s Psyche probe and Sirius XM’s SXM-10 – EchoStar 25 will serve as a direct broadcast satellite for Dish.

According to its filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), EchoStar 25 is designed to operate with space-to-Earth communications in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band and Earth-to-space communications in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band.

EchoStar 25 marks the newest satellite for Dish, succeeding EchoStar 23, which launched in March 2017. The company has already commissioned Lanteris in May 2025 to build EchoStar 26, slated for a 2028 launch.

In a significant move in September 2025, EchoStar announced the sale of its direct-to-mobile spectrum licenses to SpaceX. This $17 billion transaction, equally divided between cash and SpaceX stock, is currently pending regulatory approval.

EchoStar CEO Charles Ergen expressed mixed feelings about the sale, stating, “We are disappointed that we were not able to continue with something we built over 17 years.” However, he added, “I think that we are also pleased that we have made our bet, and that is with SpaceX and Starlink.”

This acquisition is set to significantly bolster SpaceX’s Direct to Cell Starlink service, recently rebranded as Starlink Mobile.

Ergen further elaborated on the strategic decision: “We see them as the most viable company to do that, and with their tremendous technology and launch capabilities, they are well-positioned to certainly be a leader in that. And as we publicly discussed, we already have an agreement with them to provide that to our customers.”