With the development of the ViaSat-3 global constellation of three high-power commercial satellites, Viasat is positioned to cover nearly the whole earth as it expands broadband internet service. Viasat has partnered with Boeing to engineer the three satellites, each expected to weigh around 13,000 pounds. The first satellite of the series (Flight 1) will provide coverage to North and South America and the areas of ocean around them.

What the ViaSat-3 Global Satellite Constellation Will Provide

When the constellation of all three satellites is in geostationary orbit, Viasat will be positioned to provide broadband to North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia Pacific. After the ViaSat-3 (Flight 1) satellite has been launched and tested, Viasat anticipates satellite total network capacity to be at least 1 Terabit per second. The ViaSat-3 satellites will provide high-speed broadband access to residential and business customers, commercial and business flights, and government and defense customers. Each satellite is expected to perform for at least 15 years.

Partnership between Viasat and Boeing

After engineering, building, and testing the ViaSat-3 (Flight 1) satellite payload, then integrating it with the Boeing modular component, Viasat delivered the payload from its facilities in Arizona to Boeing Satellite Systems in California in June 2021. In addition to providing the modular structure for Viasat to integrate with the payload, Boeing is:

• Integrating the Viasat payload, which includes state of the art components and proprietary parts, with its “bus” spacecraft module
• Providing the spacecraft components like solar arrays, attitude control, and propulsion
• Executing environmental testing related to launch and exposure in space
• Managing integration with the launch vehicle as well as mission operations services

After the completion of environmental testing, the first of the three ViaSat-3 satellites is anticipated to launch in early 2022. At launch, ViaSat-3 (Flight 1) is projected to be the highest-capacity communications satellite ever deployed. With work already underway building the payloads of the next two satellites, Viasat projects delivery of the payload for the second satellite, ViaSat-3 (EMEA), to Boeing in late 2022.