ViaSat-3 Flight 2 (VS-3 F2) – the second of three VS-3 Ultra-high capacity satellites – is scheduled to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. It will liftoff aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket provided by United Launch Alliance (ULA) in the second half of October.

Once in service, VS-3 F2 is expected to more than double the bandwidth capacity of Viasat’s entire existing fleet.

The VS-3 constellation is comprised of three Ka-band satellites, each designed to be capable of rapidly shifting capacity throughout its coverage area to deliver bandwidth where and when it’s needed most. This is important to meet the increasing demand of commercial, consumer, and defence customers, where the location of high-demand hotspots can change over the course of the day. The VS-3s are geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites, located about 22,236 miles above the equator.

Alongside VS-3 F2 and F3, Viasat says it plans to have an additional six satellites enter service over the coming years – GX-7, 8, 9 satellites and three Inmarsat-8 satellites.

The previous ViaSat launch, of its VS-3 F1 craft was launched in May 2023.

Viasat also has an agreement in place with Abu Dhabi’s Space42 to build a fleet of satellites as part of the pair’s joint venture Equatys project. This agreement aims to enable global delivery of D2D services wherever terrestrial networks are not available.

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Categories: Articles, Satellite

Tags: satellite, space42, Viasat