Falcon Heavy Soars in Spectacular Return to Flight for ViaSat-3 Finale
Lighting up the Florida coastline for the first time in 18 months, SpaceX successfully launched its massive Falcon Heavy rocket on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. The mission, which lifted off at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 UTC) from historic Launch Complex 39A, safely delivered the ViaSat-3 Flight 3 (F3) communications satellite toward its target orbit.
A Milestone for Global Connectivity
The ViaSat-3 F3 satellite is the final piece of Viasat’s next-generation global broadband constellation. Weighing approximately 6,000 kg and built on Boeing’s 702MP+ platform, the satellite is designed to deliver over 1 Terabit per second (Tbps) of throughput capacity.
Once fully operational over the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, it will provide high-speed internet for residential, aviation, maritime, and defense customers. Viasat confirmed initial signal acquisition shortly after deployment, with the satellite now beginning a multi-month journey using electric thrusters to reach its final geostationary slot by late summer 2026.
Historic Double Landing and Sonic Booms
The launch provided a rare visual spectacle as SpaceX achieved its first-ever split-dual landing on land. Approximately eight minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s two side boosters (B1075 and B1072) returned to the Space Coast:
Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2): Hosted the touchdown of veteran booster B1075 on its 22nd flight.
Landing Zone 40 (LZ-40): Marked the first time a Falcon Heavy booster landed at this newly converted facility.
Residents across Brevard County were rattled by double sonic booms that echoed across the region as the boosters decelerated for touchdown. To ensure the heavy payload reached its high-energy transfer orbit, the brand-new center core (B1098) was intentionally expended in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Heavy-Lift Workhorse Returns
This flight marked the 12th overall mission for the Falcon Heavy and its first since launching NASA’s Europa Clipper in October 2024. The successful return reaffirms the vehicle's role as the second-most-powerful operational rocket today, surpassed only by NASA's Space Launch System (SLS).
With this launch, Viasat moves closer to tripling its global network capacity, overcoming previous delays and hardware challenges encountered earlier in the ViaSat-3 program.
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