SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Side Booster Landings: ViaSat-3 F3 Satellite Launch

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Side Booster Landings: ViaSat-3 F3 Satellite Launch

Watch Falcon Heavy’s twin side boosters land on LZ-2 and LZ-40 in rapid succession after stage separation. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launched the ViaSat-3 F3 Mission on Wednesday morning, April 29, 2026, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida.

View the launch here: 
http://spacex.com/launches/viasat3f3

The Falcon Heavy rocket reduces time to orbit by delivering the satellite to a more favorable transfer orbit where this satellite’s electric propulsion will take over to place ViaSat-3 F3 into a geostationary orbit. Following launch, the ViaSat-3 F3 satellite will spend several months traveling to geostationary orbit before arriving at its reserved orbital slot. It will go through rigorous in-orbit testing of the bus and payload before entering service, expected to occur by late summer 2026. ViaSat-3 satellites are each designed to provide regional coverage with ViaSat-3 F3 expected to cover the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

One of the side boosters on this mission previously supported SDA-0A, SARah-2, Transporter-11, and 18 Starlink missions, and the second previously supported launch of the GOES-U mission. Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters landed on SpaceX’s Landing Zones 2 and 40 (LZ-2 and LZ-40) at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Info: 
https://www.spacex.com/vehicles/falcon-heavy

ViaSat Press Release: 
https://www.viasat.com/news/latest-news/corporate/2026/viasat-confirms-viasat-3-f3-satellite-to-launch-april-27--2026/

Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Duration: 29 seconds 

Date: April 29, 2026

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