First, let’s clarify that Viasat has just successfully launched the first of three new satellites in the Viasat-3 constellation as of May 1, 2023. The first satellite is often called Viasat-3 but that same name applies to all three in the series that has seen one successful launch and is expected to follow with two more successful launches six months apart in late 2023 into 2024. The first of the three Viasat-3 satellites is in orbit now and covers North and South America. The second and third in the Viasat-3 series have not yet been launched. These will cover Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), and Asia/Pacific (APAC).

Viasat-4 refers to the next planned series of satellites from Viasat, after all three Viasat-3 satellites have been deployed, that will incorporate learnings from the Viasat-3 constellation. Viasat-4 will deliver even more bandwidth and speed than Viasat-3. All three satellites in the ViaSat-3 constellation will collectively supply a gigantic total network capacity of over 1 Terabit per second (1,000 Gbps). Viasat-3 will increase the capacity of Viasat’s existing fleet by nearly eight times the current capacity.

Viasat uses geostationary orbit (GEO) for its satellites, which track with the Earth’s rotation and are considered high orbit due to deployment at 21,500 -22,000 miles above the Earth.

Viasat has also investigated the alternative to geostationary orbit, Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This method however can require thousands of satellites to provide global coverage. It requires adding new groups of satellites as compared with GEO that can provide the same or comparable coverage with one large satellite.

The benefit of LEO is less latency because the distance the signal travels is greatly reduced and this makes a LEO configuration potentially suited to handling voice calls or online gaming. It’s possible but not confirmed yet that Viasat-4 will offer a hybrid solution. Stay tuned for more news on making the internet more widely available and more affordable.