A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the ViaSat-3 F3 satellite from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 29, 2026, at 10:13 a.m. EDT.
The mission marked the third and final satellite in the ViaSat-3 constellation, built by Boeing on its 702X platform at the El Segundo facility in California. Weighing approximately 6 tons, the spacecraft features a mesh antenna that unfolds to the size of a football field and is designed to deliver more than 1 terabit per second of broadband capacity over the Asia-Pacific region.
The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters, B1072 on its second flight and B1075 on its 22nd, separated and landed at Landing Zone 2 and Landing Zone 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The new center core stage was expended. SpaceX confirmed successful satellite deployment about five hours after liftoff into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Following deployment, the satellite will raise its orbit over roughly two months, deploy solar arrays, radiators, and its reflector, then undergo in-orbit testing before entering service at 155.58 degrees East longitude later in 2026.