The ViaSat-3 F3 mission will be Falcon Heavy’s first flight in about a year and a half, following a previous launch in October 2024. Falcon Heavy’s architecture consists of three modified, strapped‑together first stages derived from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The two side boosters flank a central core, and that central booster hosts an upper stage that is integrated with the payload stack. The primary report does not specify booster recovery plans, target orbit parameters, or configuration changes for this mission.
At liftoff, the three Falcon Heavy boosters together generate about 5.1 million pounds of thrust. With that thrust level, the rocket is described as the second‑most‑powerful operational launcher, trailing only NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) moon rocket, which produces 8.8 million pounds of thrust. SpaceX’s Starship system is stated to create 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff but is explicitly described as still in development and therefore not yet counted among operational launchers.
Falcon Heavy debuted in February 2018 with a test flight that sent SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s cherry‑red Tesla Roadster into orbit around the sun. Since that inaugural mission, the rocket has flown 10 additional missions, and the article notes that every one of those flights has been successful. Live coverage of the ViaSat‑3 F3 launch will be available to watch at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via SpaceX’s own webcast, with streams expected to begin about 15 minutes before liftoff.
Original source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-falcon-heavy-rocket-viasat-3-f3-launch