SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Hopes to Lift ViaSat-3F 3 Into Orbit

SpaceX is gearing up for a major launch from Kennedy Space Center, where the powerful Falcon Heavy rocket will carry the newest ViaSat‑3F 3 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

• Launch window: 10:13 a.m. Wednesday, April 29
• Decision time: Until 11:38 a.m., SpaceX can push the launch off the pad if everything looks good

Falcon Heavy Overview

The Falcon Heavy is essentially three Falcon 9 boosters joined together.

• The two outer boosters are designed to return, a feat first proven on earlier missions.
• After the main stage burns out, these side boosters head back to Cape Canaveral’s landing zones 2 and 40, producing the familiar sonic boom that signals a successful touchdown.

ViaSat‑3F 3 Satellite

• Part of a trio of Ka‑band communications satellites.
• Orbits ~22,236 miles above Earth’s equator.
• Mission: boost broadband capacity for the Asia‑Pacific region, adding more than 1 Tbps of data throughput.
• This satellite is expected to be the most powerful in the fleet; the first two were launched on previous flights.

Current Status

• A weather check has cleared the launch window, giving SpaceX a clean slate after a prior scrub due to bad conditions.
• The rocket is already fueled, and final systems checks are underway.
• If everything stays on schedule, the countdown will begin shortly before 10:13 a.m., and the world will watch as the rocket lifts off, carries its payload, and lands the side boosters back on Earth.