Spacex Falcon Heavy is scheduled to fly on Monday, April 27, at 10: 21 a. m. ET from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will carry the ViaSat-3 F3 communications satellite during an 85-minute launch window, with coverage beginning about 15 minutes before liftoff. The launch marks the first flight of the heavy-lift rocket in 18 months and its 12th-ever mission.
Spacex Falcon Heavy returns after a long pause
The rocket is set to lift off from Launch Complex 39A on an easterly trajectory. SpaceX will use three modified Falcon 9 first stages, generating about 5. 1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making the vehicle the second-most-powerful launcher in operation today.
The flight comes after Falcon Heavy last launched in October 2024, when it sent NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft toward the Jupiter system. On Monday, the rocket will carry the 6. 6-ton ViaSat-3 F3 satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit, with deployment from the upper stage expected nearly five hours after leaving the pad.
What the ViaSat-3 F3 mission is meant to do
ViaSat-3 F3 is headed to geostationary orbit, 22, 236 miles above Earth, where it is designed to remain over the same area as the planet rotates. Its mission is to provide high-throughput broadband service to customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Dave Abrahamian, vice president of Satellite Systems at Viasat, said the mission carries added significance because it closes a long chapter in the company’s program. “It’s kind of the end of an era. We’ve been working this program for over 10 years now, ” Abrahamian said.
He added that the company has reached a very different position than when the program began. “Back then, we had a handful of satellites in orbit. Since then, we’ve launched the two ViaSat-3s, we merged with Inmarsat, we’ve got the third one ready to go now, ” he said.
Boosters, weather, and landing plans
The two side boosters on this flight, tail numbers 1072 and 1075, are set to fly for a second and 22nd time, respectively. They are scheduled to separate from the center core, tail number B1098, and target landings at Landing Zone 2 and Landing Zone 40, while the center core will be expended into the Atlantic Ocean.
The 45th Weather Squadron has placed Monday’s launch weather at a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions during the window, while meteorologists are watching cumulus cloud and surface electric field rules. Launch weather officers said a Carolina Low and a weak back door cold front could shape conditions over the spaceport early Monday morning.
Spacex Falcon Heavy and what comes next
Abrahamian said the stronger rocket should help place the satellite into a more favorable transfer orbit for electric propulsion. He said orbit raising to the operating position at 158. 55 degrees East along the equator should take about two months, followed by at least a couple of months of deployment stages and checkouts before the satellite is fully ready.
The launch also underscores how little margin there is for error on a mission this large. Falcon Heavy has flown 11 successful missions before this one, and the Spacex Falcon Heavy launch on Monday will add another high-stakes chapter as the company tries to move the ViaSat-3 F3 mission into orbit on schedule.
For now, all eyes are on the 10: 21 a. m. ET window, with the Spacex Falcon Heavy liftoff set to be the central event of the morning and the ViaSat-3 F3 mission the payload driving it forward.
