Falcon Heavy ViaSat-3 F3 — Second Consecutive Scrub; 90% Favorable Forecast for April 29 Third Attempt

SpaceX confirmed a second consecutive scrub for the Falcon Heavy ViaSat-3 F3 mission on April 28, moving the next attempt to Wednesday April 29 at 10:13 a.m. EDT (14:13 UTC) with an 85-minute window. The 45th Weather Squadron upgraded the weather outlook for April 29 to 90% favorable conditions — a significant improvement over the 55% that had forced the April 27 scrub — as a drying upper-level pattern was expected to clear Cape Canaveral. Thick cumulus clouds had remained the primary constraint on April 28's brief launch window. The mission configuration remained unchanged: Falcon Heavy flying with side boosters B1072 (2nd flight) and B1075 (22nd flight) targeting simultaneous twin Return-to-Launch-Site landings at LZ-2 and LZ-40, with center core B1098 to be expended into the Atlantic, delivering the 6.6-metric-ton ViaSat-3 F3 satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit. If successful, the April 29 flight would be Falcon Heavy's first mission since October 2024's Europa Clipper launch — an 18-month return to flight.