SpaceX Plans Second Spacex Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch After Monday Scrub
SpaceX planned a second spacex falcon heavy rocket launch on Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after a Monday scrub because of poor weather. Liftoff from Launch Complex 39A was scheduled for 10:13 a.m. EDT within an 85-minute window, with ViaSat-3 F3 aboard.
The six metric ton spacecraft was headed for a geosynchronous transfer orbit, and deployment was expected nearly five hours after liftoff. The mission carried the third and final satellite in the ViaSat-3 series.
Kennedy Space Center Launch Window
The 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 90 percent chance of favorable weather during the window, with thick clouds listed as the main concern. SpaceX had scrubbed the attempt on Monday at the last minute because of poor weather, setting up the Wednesday retry.
The Falcon Heavy flight was the 12th for the rocket type, which debuted in 2018. Two side boosters, tail numbers 1072 and 1075, were set to land at LZ-2 and LZ-40, about ten miles apart. Booster 1072 was flying for the second time, while 1075 was flying for the 22nd time.
ViaSat-3 F3 Mission
Dave Abrahamian, Viasat vice president of Satellite Systems, said the spacecraft would help more airline customers provide free airborne WiFi and free streaming. “As the spacecraft enters service, I think what you’re going to see is more and more of our airline customers providing free use of airborne WiFi. And with recent updates to the networks and everything, a number of those have enabled free streaming,” he said.
He said the satellite would be dropped off in an orbit with about 23,000 kilometers perigee and about three degrees of inclination, then raised over about two months to 158.55 degrees East. “Falcon Heavy is a more powerful vehicle than Atlas 5 was, so they can put us in a more favorable transfer orbit for the electric propulsion,” Abrahamian said.
B1098 Recovery Plan
The launch plan also called for SpaceX to recover the two side boosters, while the brand new core stage booster B1098 was not planned for recovery and was expected to be discarded in the Atlantic Ocean. Abrahamian said Boeing would hand the vehicle over to Viasat after deployment stages and checkouts.
ViaSat-3 F2 flew on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in November 2025 and was still completing on-orbit checkout, leaving ViaSat-3 F3 as the final satellite in the series entering the launch queue. The Wednesday attempt was the immediate step SpaceX had lined up after the weather scrub, with the satellite’s delivery and later service set to follow if the launch cleared the window.
