The ViaSat-3 Americas satellite has successfully completed its Final Integrated Satellite Test (FIST), according to Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a world leader in satellite communications. It has now advanced to the Flight Final phase of integration, where it is undergoing the final build-up to its flight configuration.
In order to ensure that all of the satellite’s payload and bus systems are operating properly after being subjected to the rigours of mechanical environmental testing, which acted as a launch simulation, FIST was created. The satellite has previously passed mechanical environmental testing as well as thermal vacuum testing, which replicated vacuum and the incredibly hot and cold temperatures of space, where the satellite will operate throughout the course of its anticipated 15-year lifespan. FIST verified that despite the mechanical and thermal strains of the earlier test phases, the satellite continued to function as intended.
“Now that the Final Integrated Satellite Test is over, we can definitively say that the satellite design and construction process resulted in a spacecraft that is prepared for launch. Now that the satellite is nearly complete and ready to be transported from Boeing’s facility in El Segundo, California to Cape Canaveral, Florida, we can move on to the last phase of preparation for launch “Dave Ryan, Viasat’s president of space and commercial networks, said.
As we near spacecraft delivery and launch, Ryan Reid, president of Boeing (NYSE: BA) Satellite Systems International, remarked, “Completion of FIST is a critical milestone.” “After integrating our potent 702 platform with Viasat’s ultra-high throughput payload, we have verified the quality of the spacecraft’s construction and design. These are some of the last actions we take before delivering the spacecraft for launch.”

Source: Prnewswire