Getting a satellite into orbit is no easy matter, but once in orbit, the next worry for engineers and technicians is deploying the craft’s solar panels. But for Viasat and its ViaSat-F3 satellite, that challenge is magnified by the size of the craft’s reflector.

Viasat has confirmed that the boom and reflector have now successfully been deployed – and they have the photographs to prove it. An on-board camera beamed the deployment action back to Earth and the success means that the satellite can now start formal in-orbit testing ahead of its service introduction over the Asia-Pacific region.

ViaSat-3 Flight 3 (VS-3 F3) successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on April 29th. It is anticipated to be in service over the Asia-Pacific region later this year.

The unfurling of the massive reflector completes Viasat’s trio of launches. ViaSat’s VS-3 F1 and VS-3 F2 are already in service  

Other posts by :

1. Forecast: $5tn annual SpaceX revenues
2. Human AI; Access, Influence
3. Who else was eyeing Globalstar?
4. Analyst: Unrealistic expectations at SpaceX
5. Rocket Lab: “We will out-innovate SpaceX”
6. S&P ranks Arqiva’s debt as BBB+
7. AST SpaceMobile to make D2C progress this winter
8. EchoStar to put Hughes Network into bankruptcy
9. FCC explains C-band incentives

Categories: Articles, Satellite

Tags: satellite, Viasat