When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.Credit: SpaceX[embedded content]SpaceX’s brawny Falcon Heavy rocket is about to fly for the first time in a year and a half, and you can watch the action live.A Falcon Heavy topped with the huge ViaSat-3 F3 communications satellite will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday (April 27), during an 85-minute window that opens at 10:21 a.m. EDT (1421 GMT).AdvertisementAdvertisementYou can watch the liftoff live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company. Coverage will begin about 15 minutes before launch.SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket launches NASA’s Europa Clipper mission from Florida on Oct. 14, 2024. | Credit: SpaceXFalcon Heavy employs three modified, strapped-together first stages of SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. The central booster hosts an upper stage, which is integrated with the payload.Together, these three boosters generate about 5.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making Falcon Heavy the second-most-powerful launcher in operation today. The leader is NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) moon rocket, which generates 8.8 million pounds. (SpaceX’s Starship creates a whopping 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, but it’s still in development.)Falcon Heavy debuted in February 2018 with a test flight that launched SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster into orbit around the sun. The rocket has since flown 10 more missions, every one of them successful.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut it’s been a while since Falcon Heavy breathed fire: It last launched in October 2024, sending NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft toward the Jupiter system.ViaSat-3 F3 isn’t going nearly that far afield. The 6.6-ton (6 metric tons) satellite is headed to geostationary orbit (GEO) which lies 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth. At that altitude, orbital velocity matches our planet’s rotational speed, allowing satellites to “hover” over the same patch of real estate continuously.ViaSat-3 F3’s patch is a big one: The satellite will provide high-throughput broadband service to customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region.As its name suggests, ViaSat-3 F3 will be the third ViaSat-3 satellite to reach orbit. ViaSat-3 F1 did so atop a Falcon Heavy in April 2023, and ViaSat-3 F2 followed suit in November 2025 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.AdvertisementAdvertisementViaSat-3 F1 currently provides service to customers aboard airliners, and ViaSat-3 F2 will serve people in the Americas when it comes online next month. ViaSat-3 F3 will round out the ViaSat-3 mini …
