SpaceX Inches Closer To Launch Boeing’s Most Powerful Satellite With Its Biggest Rocket

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SpaceX is all set to launch its largest rocket, the Falcon Heavy, later this year after The Boeing Company delivered its most powerful satellite to date to Florida earlier today. The satellite is for satellite communications provider ViaSat, whose ViaSat 3 constellation of three satellites is designed to be one of the most powerful constellations launched in human history. Boeing delivered the first ViaSat 3 satellite to Florida as part of pre-launch and operation preparations. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is expected to launch the satellite as part of a multiple spacecraft payload early next month, as part of its second launch this year after spending years in limbo and without a mission.

Today's delivery of the ViaSat 3 satellite marked the culmination of nearly six years of work on the spacecraft, which had kicked off in late 2017. This was when Boeing and ViaSat completed the critical design review of the satellite and validated its design to start production. At that time, the pair had expected the satellite to start service in 2020, but saw the schedule slip since then.

The satellite will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and ViaSat and SpaceX reached a deal for the Falcon Heavy as the vehicle of choice in October 2018. At the time of the contract award, ViaSat had become more flexible about the planned launch date, stating that it could launch anytime between 2020 and 2022.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy can lift 26.7 tons to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), and the choice of vehicle was influenced by the rocket's payload capabilities. ViaSat aims to directly inject the