Launches / Falcon Heavy

Past launch Launched successfully

ViaSat-3 F3 (ViaSat-3 Asia-Pacific)

Falcon Heavy, flown by SpaceX

Falcon Heavy lifting off with the ViaSat-3 F3 (ViaSat-3 Asia-Pacific) mission
Image via The Space Devs.

This was SpaceX's 51st launch of 2026, and its 670th in all.

Counting every operator, it was the 101st orbital launch attempt anywhere in 2026, and the first from Launch Complex 39A.

Launched
Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 2:13 p.m. UTC
Window
Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 2:13 to 3:38 p.m. UTC
Launch site
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Rocket
Falcon Heavy
Operator
SpaceX
Weather
85% favorableThick cloud layers rule

Watch the webcast →

The mission

The ViaSat-3 is a series of three Ka-band satellites is expected to provide vastly superior capabilities in terms of service speed and flexibility for a satellite platform. Each ViaSat-3 class satellite is expected to deliver more than 1-Terabit per second of network capacity, and to leverage high levels of flexibility to dynamically direct capacity to where customers are located.

Type
Communications
Destination
Geostationary transfer orbit

The rocket

The Falcon Heavy is a variant of the Falcon 9 full thrust launch vehicle and consists of a standard Falcon 9 rocket core, with two additional boosters derived from the Falcon 9 first stage.

Height
70 m
Built by
SpaceX
First flew
February 6, 2018
Lifts to low Earth orbit
63,800 kg
View 5 specifications Show less
Lifts to geostationary transfer
26,700 kg
Diameter
12.2 m
Mass at liftoff
1,400 t
Thrust at liftoff
22,819 kN
Stages
3

13 flights, 13 of them successful. 23 boosters brought back from 25 attempts.

spacex.com → Wikipedia →

The operator

SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

Sector
Commercial
Based in
USA
Founded
2002
Run by
Elon Musk, CEO

724 launches so far, 709 of them successful. The last 209 in a row went to plan.

spacex.com → Wikipedia →

The launch site

It went up from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA.

See the pad on a map →

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