Full Breakdown
SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch Delivers Final ViaSat-3 Satellite for Asia-Pacific Connectivity
4/30/2026, 11:28:54 AM
Launch Overview
On 29 April 2026 at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 UTC), SpaceX launched a Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A carrying the 6-ton ViaSat-3 F3 satellite, the final element of Viasat’s three-satellite ViaSat-3 constellation. The 70-meter-tall rocket, powered by 27 Merlin engines delivering about 5 million pounds of thrust, lifted off with side boosters B1072 and B1075. After 2.5 minutes the side boosters throttled down, separated, performed boost-back burns, and landed at Landing Zones 2 and 40. The center core B1098 continued for another 90 seconds before second-stage separation. The upper stage performed three burns over roughly five hours, placing the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit; the side boosters touched down about eight minutes after liftoff, while the core was not recovered.
Satellite Capabilities
ViaSat-3 F3 will operate at 155.58° E, delivering more than 1 Tbps of throughput to Viasat’s network. Its phased-array antennas enable dynamic beamforming, allowing the satellite to allocate spectrum and create multiple beams on demand, eliminating the “trapped capacity” issue of fixed-footprint satellites.
Official Statements & Responses
SpaceX confirmed the successful deployment of ViaSat-3 F3 and noted that the center core was not recovered, as is typical for Falcon Heavy missions. Viasat’s Vice President of Satellite Systems, Dave Abrahamian, emphasized the program’s decade-long development and the new operational capabilities enabled by the final satellite.
Verbatim Quotes
- “It’s kind of the end of an era. We’ve been working this program for over 10 years now. So that’s a good chunk of life that’s gone by over the course of the program,” — Dave Abrahamian, Vice President of Satellite Systems, Viasat
- “We have a number of airline customers in the APAC region that are really anxious to get this capacity online so they can start serving their customers better,” — Dave Abrahamian, Vice President of Satellite Systems, Viasat
- “Two of the hallmarks of the ViaSat-3 constellation are a huge amount of just absolute capacity, but also the flexibility to put it wherever you need it, whenever you need it.” — Dave Abrahamian, Vice President of Satellite Systems, Viasat
- “ViaSat-3 because we’re using a phased array technology and our antennas onboard, we can form a beam wherever we need it,” — Dave Abrahamian, Vice President of Satellite Systems, Viasat
Impact on Asia-Pacific Connectivity
The added terabit-plus capacity is expected to support airline in-flight connectivity, maritime broadband, and enterprise services across the region. Viasat’s ability to reconfigure beams in real time addresses fluctuating demand, improving service reliability for customers that previously faced limited bandwidth.
What’s Next
Following deployment, ViaSat-3 F3 will undergo a two-month orbit-raising phase before reaching its operational slot at 155.58° E. Once commissioned, the satellite will begin delivering high-throughput broadband to Viasat’s APAC clientele, expanding the company’s global coverage footprint.
