ViaSat-3 enters service, delivering inflight internet on Hawaii flights

The first ViaSat-3 satellite is now in service, providing increased capacity and a broader coverage footprint for the company’s airline customers. Activation of the satellite comes more than 16 months after launch, and a year after the company acknowledged troubles with the deployment of the primary antenna reflector.

Bringing ViaSat-3 F1 into commercial service for aviation customers will significantly enhance the passenger experience available over North America, including streaming content and staying in touch with the world when flying.

– Jimmy Dodd, President, Aviation segment at Viasat, Inc.

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The launch and deployment delay was far from ideal for Viasat. The hardware “anomaly” was an unwelcome follow-on to that. Still, Viasat notes “while the antenna deployment anomaly resulted in a significant reduction in overall capacity, the resiliency and high-performance specifications of the ViaSat-3 satellite system still allows the satellite to support high-speed broadband services for aviation customers over North America, where the satellite is deployed.”

The company expects to realize about 10% of the satellite’s capacity, giving it enough bandwidth to deliver much-needed Ka-band services between the west coast and Hawaii. A review of schedule data from Cirium suggests the newly available coverage will support approximately 40 flights daily in each direction between the US mainland and Hawaii. Delta Air Lines will see the largest number of planes and passengers now able to get online (and for free with a SkyMiles account), with approximately 540 affected flights scheduled in August each direction. United Airlines follows with approximately 400 and American Airlines trails with just over 300.

In its statement Viasat also says the capacity will be available over North America, though a specific coverage map has not been released.

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Separately, Craig Miller, the company’s President of Global Space Networks, confirms that ViaSat-3 F2 and F3 are moving towards launch, “including the successful completion of thermal vacuum testing on ViaSat-3 F3 recently and the successful completion of mechanical environmental testing on ViaSat-3 F2.” It is hard to not read that last bit as “making sure the antenna will unfold properly on this one when we launch it.” The company’s most recent guidance sees both of those satellites in service in 2025, with F2 anticipated “by late calendar year 2025,” and F3 in “mid to late calendar year 2025.”

Additionally, the company expects its GX 10a and 10b payloads to launch in HEO orbit, providing true polar coverage for its GX network, later this month. Alas, combining capacity from the GX and legacy Viasat constellations won’t be viable until late in 2025, when the company’s new dual-modem modman becomes available in the channel.