A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the EchoStar-25 mission on March 9, 2026. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
Update March 10, 1:21 a.m. EDT (0531 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the EchoStar-25 satellite.
A direct television satellite for Dish Network, a subsidiary of EchoStar, headed into geostationary Earth orbit on Monday night aboard a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral.
The satellite, EchoStar 25, flew to a geosynchronous transfer orbit before maneuvering to its operation position at 110 degrees West above the equator.
Liftoff of the 70-meter-tall launch vehicle from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 12:19 a.m. EDT (0419 UTC). The rocket flew due east upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90 percent chance for favorable weather during the launch window, citing a small chance for interference from cumulus clouds.
SpaceX launched the mission with Falcon 9 first stage B1085. This was its 14th flight after previously flying missions, including NASA’s Crew-9, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, and Fram2.
A little more than 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1085 landed on the drone ship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the 146th touchdown on this vessel and the 583rd booster landing to date for SpaceX.
The EchoStar 25 satellite deployed from the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket nearly 33 minutes after liftoff.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the EchoStar-25 mission on March 9, 2026. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now
On March 20, 2023, EchoStar entered into a contract with Lanteris Space LLC (formerly Maxar Space Systems, now a subsidiary of Intuitive Machines) to build the EchoStar 25 satellite. A launch contract with SpaceX was established in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The satellite is built on Lanteris’ 1300 Series satellite bus, the basis for spacecraft, like NASA’s Psyche probe and Sirius XM’s SXM-10. Dish will use it as a direct broadcast satellite.
EchoStar-25 will operate in the 12.2-12.7 GHz for space-to-Earth communications and 17.3-17.8 GHz for Earth-to-space, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
This will be the most recent EchoStar satellite to be operated by its subsidiary, Dish, since EchoStar 23, which launched in March 2017. In May 2025, the company ordered the construction of EchoStar-26 from Lanteris, which is expected to launch in 2028.
Deployment of @EchoStar XXV confirmed pic.twitter.com/VrYd2QtjxT
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 10, 2026
In September 2025, EchoStar announced it was selling spectrum licenses to SpaceX that it had planned to use for its own direct to mobile service. The $17 billion sale, split evenly between cash and SpaceX stock is awaiting regulatory approval.
“We are disappointed that we were not able to continue with something we built over 17 years,” EchoStar’s CEO Charles Ergen said. “I think that we are also pleased that we have made our bet, and that is with SpaceX and Starlink
The sale will help advance SpaceX’s Direct to Cell Starlink service, recently rebranded to Starlink Mobile.
“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,” Ergen said.