ViaSat Unveils ViaSat-3 Ultra-High Capacity Satellite Platform

The first two satellites in ViaSat's ViaSat-3 ultra-high capacity satellite platform are expected to be ready in 2019, the satellite company said in a news release Tuesday. The ViaSat-3 constellation will include three satellites, and the first two will have more than twice the total network capacity of the roughly 400 commercial satellites currently in orbit combined, the company said. ViaSat said the ViaSat-3 platform -- with network capacity of more than 1 Tbps per satellite -- promises residential broadband service of 100-plus Mbps, which would enable 4K Ultra-HD video streaming; "hundreds" of Mbps for in-flight connectivity; and up to 1 Gbps speeds for maritime, oceanic and other enterprise applications.