ViaSat – Spaceflight Now

Barring a surprise, SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy flight is planned in late 2020

June 30, 2019

After two successful Falcon Heavy missions in less than 11 weeks, launch fans will likely have to wait until late 2020 for SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy flight, barring a surprise mission for an unannounced customer.

Viasat swaps Ariane 5 launch for new Ariane 6 rocket

June 17, 2019

Viasat has modified an existing contract with Arianespace to launch one of the company’s next-generation broadband Internet satellites on Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, rather than on-board an Ariane 5 launcher, officials announced Monday.

Viasat confirms SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy will launch next-gen broadband satellite

October 26, 2018

Viasat announced Thursday that a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch a next-generation broadband satellite from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center some time between 2020 and 2022, joining Arianespace and United Launch Alliance in a three-way split for Viasat’s new launch contracts.

Viasat selects Atlas 5 rocket for broadband satellite launch

September 11, 2018

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will send one of Viasat’s next-generation broadband satellites toward geostationary orbit from Cape Canaveral some time between 2020 and 2022, the companies announced Monday.

Ariane 5 succeeds in launch of two high-value communications satellites

June 2, 2017

A pair of ViaSat and Eutelsat communications satellites — one to broadcast unparalleled high-speed Internet from space, and another to connect the Asia-Pacific — streaked into space Thursday from French Guiana atop an Ariane 5 rocket, setting records for the heaviest and most valuable commercial payload ever put into orbit.

Launch timeline for Ariane 5’s flight with ViaSat 2 and Eutelsat 172B

June 1, 2017

An Ariane 5 rocket will fire into the sky from French Guiana Thursday evening and deliver a record heavyweight payload to orbit less than an hour later.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 rocket launches on record-breaking mission

June 1, 2017

An Ariane 5 rocket lifted off Thursday at 2345 GMT (7:45 p.m. EDT), flying from a French Guiana launch pad to geostationary transfer orbit with the ViaSat 2 and Eutelsat 172B communications satellites.

Two high-power broadband satellites set for record-breaking launch on Ariane 5 rocket

June 1, 2017

A pair of innovative satellites for ViaSat and Eutelsat, valued at approximately $800 million, are scheduled to lift off Thursday on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana, hauling the heaviest and costliest commercial payload ever launched.

Operations resume at European-run launch base in French Guiana

April 25, 2017

Ground crews returned to work Monday at the Guiana Space Center, a European-run spaceport on the northeastern shore of South America, after protests and a general strike across French Guiana interrupted launch operations for five weeks.

ViaSat trades in Falcon Heavy launch for Ariane 5

February 15, 2016

Delays in the debut of SpaceX’s huge Falcon Heavy rocket have prompted ViaSat to move the launch of a high-speed Internet communications satellite from the new privately-developed booster to an Ariane 5 flight in early 2017, officials said last week.