Carlsbad-based Viasat successfully launched the first in a trio of high-speed broadband satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on April 30 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The $90 million launch of Viasat-3 Americas — expected to deliver customers in North and South America with at least 1-terabit (1,000 Gbps) of data per second for faster download and upload speeds — was originally scheduled for April 18, but undisclosed delays kept pushing back the global communications company’s highly anticipated liftoff.
Severe thunderstorms, lightning strikes and tornado warnings near Cape Canaveral grounded the rocket again on April 28, prompting crews to conduct safety inspections of the gear and rocket payload.
At approximately 8:26 p.m. EDT, a Falcon Heavy rocket, one of the world’s most powerful operational launch vehicles equipped with 27 Merlin engines generating more than 5 million pounds of thrust, started its journey helping carry Viasat-3 Americas into geostationary orbit.
“Today’s successful launch of ViaSat-3 Americas opens a new chapter in Viasat’s growth,” said Mark Dankberg, Viasat’s chairman and CEO. “This first Americas satellite will multiply our available bandwidth, and enable faster speeds and more coverage – especially for our mobility customers. It’s not just a new satellite, it’s a new way to build broadband satellites. Thanks so much to all our people, and our partners, for their commitment and dedication to getting this done.”
Approximately 4.5 hours after liftoff, the satellite separated from the SpaceX launch vehicle and the satellite’s first signals were acquired shortly after through a ground station in South Korea, Viasat officials reported.
Dankberg told SpaceNews that the Viasat-3 Americas satellite is expected to reach its final geostationary orbit position in approximately three weeks. The company expects another two to three months for health checks before bringing the service customers.
The first two satellites, Viasat-3 Americas and Viasat-3 EMEA, will cover the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The second satellite, ViaSat-3 EMEA, is now in environmental testing in Boeing’s El Segundo, California factory, according to a company release.
The third satellite, Viasat-3 APAC, is now undergoing final payload integration and testing at Viasat’s facility in Tempe, Arizona, and will focus on the Asia Pacific region, completing Viasat’s global service coverage.
Officials have said both ViaSat-3 EMEA and ViaSat-3 APAC remain on schedule, “with the launch of ViaSat-3 EMEA expected during the summer of 2023.”
This past weekend’s successful launch comes after the city’s largest employer laid off 4% of its global workforce, including 72 workers at its Carlsbad headquarters, due to the company’s recent shift to global broadband expansion.
In early April, Viasat filed Worker Retraining and Adjustment Notification Act paperwork earlier this month, trimming its staff as it prepares for its upcoming Viasat-3 satellite launch, as previously reported by The Coast News.
The company also sold one of its most profitable business units — the Link 16 Tactical Data Links — to defense contractor and technology company L3 Harris for $2 billion. Link 16, a military tactical data link network used by U.S. and NATO “for exchanging real-time tactical data,” was a successful unit for the company’s defense contracting business.
Viasat is also in the process of acquiring Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company, for $6 billion.
CORRECTION: A previous version said Viasat had acquired Inmarsat, but the process is still ongoing.
