SpaceX FH : Viasat-3.1 (Americas): KSC LC-39A : 30 Apr/1 May 2023 (00:26 UTC)

[zubenelgenubi]

B1068.1 will not be expended on USSF-67; it remains for this launch:

NextSpaceFlight, updated January 5:
Center Core listed as B1070

[zubenelgenubi]

SFN Launch preps underway for first of up to five Falcon Heavy missions this year, January 7:
Northern hemisphere spring starts in March, so NET March is not negated.

There are two more Falcon Heavy missions scheduled for launch in the spring. One will launch the first ViaSat 3 internet satellite to beam broadband service over the Americas for Viasat, and the other will launch the USSF-52 mission for the Space Force.

[gongora]

Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) herein requests 30 days of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”),1 commencing March 24, 2023, to use its Castle Rock, Colorado Ku-band earth station, Call Sign KL92, to provide launch and early orbit phase (“LEOP”) services to ViaSat-3 (S2917).2 ViaSat-3 is expected to launch on March 24, 2023.

[Alexphysics]

Now NET April 8th

https://investors.viasat.com/static-files/caaaea6a-6f1e-460e-9f57-ad6ddb2353de

We are happy to report that after a long, painstaking process the first ViaSat-3 satellite has completed construction and testing, and is scheduled for launch the week of April 8th

[vaporcobra]

Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”) herein requests 30 days of Special Temporary Authority (“STA”),1 commencing March 24, 2023, to use its Castle Rock, Colorado Ku-band earth station, Call Sign KL92, to provide launch and early orbit phase (“LEOP”) services to ViaSat-3 (S2917).2 ViaSat-3 is expected to launch on March 24, 2023.

Now NET April 8th

https://investors.viasat.com/static-files/caaaea6a-6f1e-460e-9f57-ad6ddb2353de

We are happy to report that after a long, painstaking process the first ViaSat-3 satellite has completed construction and testing, and is scheduled for launch the week of April 8th

Two weeks of delays in... two weeks! The struggle continues.

[gongora]

The Intelsat filings rarely end up being the actual launch date.  The customer publicly giving a launch window two months from now is a good sign.

[gongora]

Said they're planning April 8, after the two NASA ISS missions.  Reach orbital slot a couple weeks after launch.  Viasat-3 EMEA on ULA in September.

[crandles57]

https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ 16 feb update has time as 22:25UTC on 8th April

[gongora]

FCC permit for launch communications of a Falcon Heavy NET end of March (so probably this flight) shows fully expendable launch vehicle.

0420-EX-ST-2023
Mission 1451 from LC-39A
Fully expendable Falcon Heavy
NET end of March

[wannamoonbase]

FCC permit for launch communications of a Falcon Heavy NET end of March (so probably this flight) shows fully expendable launch vehicle.

Expend all 3 cores?

That would be some pretty amazing capacity to orbit.

[ZachS09]

FCC permit for launch communications of a Falcon Heavy NET end of March (so probably this flight) shows fully expendable launch vehicle.

Expend all 3 cores?

That would be some pretty amazing capacity to orbit.

I guessed direct-to-GEO in this scenario, as the total payload mass is 6.7 tons. Or it'll be a couple hundred m/s of delta-v short.

[Chinakpradhan]

FCC permit for launch communications of a Falcon Heavy NET end of March (so probably this flight) shows fully expendable launch vehicle.

Expend all 3 cores?

That would be some pretty amazing capacity to orbit.

I guessed direct-to-GEO in this scenario, as the total payload mass is 6.7 tons. Or it'll be a couple hundred m/s of delta-v short.

why couldn't we switch the side boosters to B1058.16, B1060.16. it's better as B1053.3 has rarely flown. Please don't sacrifice it.

[ZachS09]

FCC permit for launch communications of a Falcon Heavy NET end of March (so probably this flight) shows fully expendable launch vehicle.

Expend all 3 cores?

That would be some pretty amazing capacity to orbit.

I guessed direct-to-GEO in this scenario, as the total payload mass is 6.7 tons. Or it'll be a couple hundred m/s of delta-v short.

Why couldn't we switch the side boosters to B1058.16, B1060.16? It's better as B1053.3 has rarely flown. Please don't sacrifice it.

If SpaceX wants to apparently expend B1052 and B1053, then that's what they'll do.

[FlattestEarth]

Fully expendable was always the plan or Viasat is desperate to get this bird operational and upgraded launch?

[Chinakpradhan]

Fully expendable was always the plan or Viasat is desperate to get this bird operational and upgraded launch?

i am thinking can we add the 4 astrianis f9 satellites scheduled to launch in june, exploiting fh's fully expendable capability to 8.938 tons from 6.738 tons?? this can add advantage to the astrainis sats reaching orbit with arcturus. onespeed any guess???

[GewoonLukas_]

Fully expendable was always the plan or Viasat is desperate to get this bird operational and upgraded launch?

The mission was always supposed to be direct-to-GEO, so fully expending the Falcon Heavy probably always was the plan. (Because of the mass of the satellite)

[ZachS09]

Fully expendable was always the plan or Viasat is desperate to get this bird operational and upgraded launch?

The mission was always supposed to be direct-to-GEO, so fully expending the Falcon Heavy probably always was the plan. (Because of the mass of the satellite)

I thought the side boosters would land on the two drone ships while the center core is, of course, expended.

[GewoonLukas_]

Fully expendable was always the plan or Viasat is desperate to get this bird operational and upgraded launch?

The mission was always supposed to be direct-to-GEO, so fully expending the Falcon Heavy probably always was the plan. (Because of the mass of the satellite)

I thought the side boosters would land on the two drone ships while the center core is, of course, expended.

That seemed like the most likely option, but was never confirmed.

[shiro]

Maybe there’s some reason for SpaceX to launch all-expandable Falcon Heavy variant at least once before flying it with the multibillion Europa Clipper mission on top?

[LouScheffer]

Fully expendable was always the plan or Viasat is desperate to get this bird operational and upgraded launch?

The mission was always supposed to be direct-to-GEO, so fully expending the Falcon Heavy probably always was the plan. (Because of the mass of the satellite)

According to some back-of-the-envelope guesses (see here), FH with droneship recovery of side cores, expendable center core, should be able to put 8000 kg direct to GEO, and the satellite is "only" 6800 kg.  So not sure why it's planned as fully expendable.