Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, March 21 (Xinhua)-- Boeing delivered its most powerful communications satellite to Florida earlier today.

This satellite is the first star of the ViaSat 3 constellation (American Star) they developed for ViaSat. It belongs to the strongest high-throughput Ka band communication satellite in the history of mankind, and is also the first star of the Boeing 702 MP+ platform. For the first time, the 702MP series platform uses an all-electric propulsion system, which can transmit data at the speed of 1Tbps per second.

The satellite is expected to be launched 07:25 on April 9 from the SpaceX heavy Falcon carrier rocket, its second launch mission this year. The launch adopts a non-recovery mode (full throwing of three cores) and is sent directly to the GEO geostationary orbit with maximum thrust. When the satellite is fixed, it will provide communication services to North and South America in the Western Hemisphere.

The ViaSat 3 constellation system, made up of three satellites, aims to become one of the most powerful constellations in human history, while the following two satellites will cover the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region and the Asia-Pacific region, respectively, and are planned for launch by the Universe 5 and Ariana 6 rockets, scheduled for September 2023 and March 2024.

▲ source: Boeing ViaSat 3 started development at the end of 2017, when Boeing and ViaSat conducted a key design review of the satellite and validated its design. At the time, the two companies had expected the satellite to start service in 2020, but it had apparently been delayed.

Viasat-3 has a mass of about 6 tons and is equipped with a pair of huge optical wings (a total of 16 solar panels). The giant umbrella antenna makes its communication rate as high as 100+Mpbs and its communication capacity as high as 1Tbps. (CTOnews.com Note: Zhongxing 26, the strongest communication satellite in China, which was launched last month, surpassed 100Gbps).

According to reports, these satellites are scheduled to operate for at least 15 years, and ViaSat spent nearly a year testing many of the spacecraft's systems and subsystems. These tests include placing the satellite at extremely low temperatures and simulating the harsh space environment related to radiation.

ViaSat claims that the satellite is the largest telecommunications satellite ever built. Boeing also said earlier today that ViaSat 3 is the most powerful satellite it has ever built, and solar panels alone can generate 30 kilowatts of ultra-strong electricity (about 1 kilowatt of the generating capacity of the International Space Station).

It is worth mentioning that ViaSat was founded in 1986, but they used to operate mainly by buying the capacity of launched spacecraft, and it was not until decades later that they developed and launched their own satellites.

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