en.Wedoany.com Reported - U.S. satellite communications operator Viasat announced on May 11 that the large reflector on its ViaSat-3 F2 satellite has been "fully deployed." This ultra-high-throughput satellite, designed to deliver download speeds exceeding 100Mbps, is set to officially commence commercial service as early as this month, targeting coverage across the entire Americas. The company posted a photo on social media showing the golden mesh reflector fully unfurled in space, captioned "Looking good ViaSat-3 F2," marking the most critical step toward the satellite entering operation. Its capacity will double the total bandwidth of the company's entire satellite fleet.
The F2 satellite was launched on November 13, 2025, by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, sending it into a geostationary transfer orbit. Built on the Boeing 702MP+ platform, the satellite is equipped with an all-electric propulsion system and next-generation solar cell arrays. It has a total mass of approximately 6,000 kilograms (about 13,227 pounds) and is designed with over 1,000 tunable spot beams, capable of projecting broadband signals directly to ground user terminals. After entering geostationary orbit and completing in-orbit testing, the satellite's reflector was successfully deployed recently, a core step in enhancing signal transmission and reception efficiency, clearing the main technical hurdle before entering operational service.
The successful deployment of the reflector holds particularly critical significance for Viasat. In 2023, the company launched the ViaSat-3 F1 satellite, the first satellite also targeting the Americas market, which suffered a severe malfunction when its reflector failed to fully deploy. This drastically reduced the satellite's usable capacity, limiting it primarily to serving aviation customers. Following over two years of engineering corrections and design improvements by Viasat, the successful deployment of F2's reflector allows this satellite to unleash its expected communications capacity of over 1Tbps, thereby "fully realizing" its mission of in-orbit capability restoration and network upgrade, underpinned by an insurance payout premise valued at approximately $400 million.
Data from the capacity expansion perspective provides a direct reference: F2 alone adds over 1Tbps of network capacity, effectively doubling the bandwidth capability of Viasat's entire global satellite fleet. Combined with the currently cooperating in-orbit ViaSat-1, ViaSat-2, and the integrated Inmarsat satellite network, F2's entry into service will significantly strengthen Viasat's comprehensive service capabilities for airline passengers, maritime fleets, and fixed broadband users in the Americas region. According to Runway Girl, Viasat's President of Aviation, Don Buchman, recently assured airline representatives at the AIX expo in Hamburg that once F2 is online, "the impact of the experience will be pleasantly surprising." The company currently serves approximately 12,000 flights daily in the region.
Although Viasat has not announced the precise start date for F2 service, its official website and investor materials have confirmed a "service launch within May" window. As this satellite enters formal operation, Viasat will usher in a new era of capacity for the Americas. Furthermore, the third satellite, ViaSat-3 F3, is planned for launch by a Falcon Heavy rocket before the end of summer 2026, at which point the entire constellation will form a full-capacity closed loop covering the world's major continental landmasses.
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