SpaceX Launches Startup's First 'Cell Tower in Space' Jupiter 3 has a total communication capacity of 500 gigabits per second. That includes communication to and from the terminals that customers have, and with the Hughes ground stations that link the satellite to the broader internet. "We've colocated those in data centers where a lot of major content players house their data, to eliminate delays and latency," Wymer said. The new low Earth orbit constellations of broadband satellites are "forcing us to innovate," he said. One example is Hughes' Fusion service, which combines communications with OneWeb's low Earth orbit satellites either with 4G mobile phone network technology or with Hughes' Jupiter geosynchronous satellites. (Hughes, a division of EchoStar, is a major OneWeb investor.) Instant broadband during disasters or war Satellite broadband also can play an important role in areas disrupted by war or natural disasters. SpaceX's Starlink terminals have been important for Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion, and satellite links could be important if attacks disrupt the massive network of subsea internet cables crucial to international commerce and communications. Hughes' Jupiter 3 satellite, packaged in a large white container, is loaded onto a bulging Antonov cargo jet in Silicon Valley for shipment to Florida for its launch. Hughes Hughes works with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to help emergency crews set up temporary cellphone networks after disasters. "We can go in within a moment's notice and establish or reestablish those communication lines," Wymer said. Along with individual customers, Hughes' Jupiter satellites also supply "backhaul" connections to remote cell towers that lack terrestrial connections and to communities, particularly in South America, that set up community internet access points.