SpaceX postpones launch of ‘super rocket’ Falcon Heavy

According to the original schedule, Falcon Heavy will launch at 10:21 a.m. on April 27 (9:21 p.m. on the same day Hanoi time) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, but at 9:29 p.m. SpaceX announced a delay due to adverse weather. “The vehicle and payload are still in good condition. A new launch time will be announced once confirmed,” the announcement said.

So after nearly a year and a half of absence, since the Europa Clipper mission in October 2024, SpaceX’s “super rocket” Falcon Heavy has still not been able to operate again. In the video broadcast live on X before the scheduled launch time, the weather in the area was gloomy and cloudy.

According to the page Spacealthough the company’s website shows a backup schedule for April 28, the official launch time is still being considered based on weather developments in Florida.

In this mission, the rocket carries ViaSat-3 F3 – a 6.6-ton communications satellite, expected to play an important role in providing satellite broadband Internet coverage for the ViaSat system in the Asia-Pacific region.

Since its debut in February 2018 with the launch of Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster into space, Falcon Heavy has performed a total of 11 missions and all were successful.

Falcon Heavy is a heavy rocket made up of three improved Falcon 9 rocket cores joined together. This system possesses 27 Merlin engines, generating 5.1 million pounds (about 2,300 tons) of thrust when leaving the launch pad. With this parameter, Falcon Heavy is currently the second most powerful rocket in operation in the world, second only to NASA’s space launch system (SLS) with a thrust of 8.8 million pounds. SpaceX also introduced its most powerful system, Starship, with a thrust of 16.7 million pounds, but this rocket is still in the testing process and has not yet entered official operation.

The two previous satellites in this network, ViaSat-3 F1 launched by Falcon Heavy in April 2023, are serving passengers on flights; and ViaSat-3 F2 launched by Atlas V rocket in November 2025, expected to go into operation in the Americas next month.

In the next flight, ViaSat-3 F3 will be placed in geostationary orbit (GEO), about 35,786 km from Earth. At this altitude, the satellite’s orbital speed matches the Earth’s rotation speed, helping it always “hover” in a fixed position to maintain continuous connection.