King Charles III and Queen Camilla were welcomed by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Monday, at the White House, marking the start of a four-day state visit to the United States that ended Thursday.

The trip, held in honor of the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence from Britain, aimed to celebrate the historic and modern bilateral relationship between the two nations, though it unfolded amid strained U.S.-U.K. relations over the Iran war and political tensions involving British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

President Trump’s welcoming remarks emphasized shared heritage and Anglo-Saxon legacy. Speaking on the White House South Lawn, he said: _“American patriots today can sing, ‘My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,’ only because our colonial ancestors first sang, ‘God save the King.’”_ He praised the “cherished bond” between the nations and called Charles a “fantastic person.” Trump also referenced his mother’s Scottish roots and joked about the rainy weather being a “beautiful British day.”

King Charles, in turn, delivered a historic address to a joint session of Congress on April 28, becoming only the second British monarch—after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II in 1991—to do so. In his speech, he highlighted shared values, joked about the U.S. and U.K. having “everything in common except language,” and called for continued alliance on NATO, Ukraine, environmental protection, and democratic unity.

After arrival at Joint Base Andrews, King Charles had afternoon tea with the Trumps, and a garden party at the British Embassy attended by U.S. officials and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The White House held a ceremonial welcome on Tuesday, with a military review and flyover, then a closed-door Oval Office meeting, before the King went over to for his Congressional address, followed by a lavish state dinner where Charles joked about the 1814 burning of the White House.

The King participated in wreath-laying at the National September 11 Memorial in New York with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Queen Camilla visited the New York Public Library with Sarah Jessica Parker and Anna Wintour, while King Charles met NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and visited Harlem Grown.

Final day included a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, a community parade in Front Royal, Virginia, and a farewell at the White House before departing for Bermuda.

The visit was seen as a diplomatic effort to strengthen the “special relationship”** despite political friction, with Charles widely praised across the U.S. political spectrum for his unifying message. Epstein-related controversies and security concerns following a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner added tension, but the trip proceeded as planned.

Ariane 6 mission VA268 launched 32 Amazon Leo satellites (LE-02) into low Earth orbit on Thursday(April 30), at 0857 UTC from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana. This flight marked the seventh launch of the Ariane 6 rocket and the second in its Ariane 64 configuration, which utilizes four solid-fuel strap-on boosters for maximum power.

The first-ever Ariane 64 launch occurred in February, when the rocket delivered 32 Amazon Leo satellites to low Earth orbit. VA268 did the same thing.

"For this mission, the launcher will carry the 32 satellites under its 20-meter-long fairing and deploy them into low Earth orbit following a mission lasting less than 2 hours from liftoff to separation of the last spacecraft," Arianespace representatives said in a statement last month.

Thursday's mission, designated LE-02 by Amazon, was completed completed in 1 hour and 54 minutes, with all satellites deployed into an orbit approximately 465 km above Earth.

The deployment altitude of ~465 km exceeds the 400 km target authorized by the FCC, a move SpaceX previously complained about, though Amazon stated the FCC was aware of the adjustment.

Thursday's mission was critical for Arianespace, as Amazon Leo is its primary commercial customer, with a contract for 18 Ariane 6 launches to support the constellation's expansion. The Ariane 64 rocket variant stands approximately 62 meters tall with a 20-meter payload fairing, demonstrating Europe’s heavy-lift launch capability. This launch confirmed the rocket's full operational capability after its debut in February 2026.

Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) aims to deploy 3,200 satellites to provide global broadband internet, competing directly with SpaceX’s Starlink, which currently has over 10,000 satellites in orbit.

SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket at 1413 UTC on Wednesday (April 29) from Launch Complex 39A(LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, carrying the huge ViaSat-3 F3 satellite into orbit. This mission marked the 12th flight for the Falcon Heavy and its first launch in 18 months, following the October 2024 Europa Clipper mission.

The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters, B1072 and B1075, returned to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station about eight minutes after launch, with B1072 landing at Landing Zone 2 and B1075 touching down at the newer Landing Zone 40 at Space Launch Complex 40. As is standard for Falcon Heavy missions, the central core booster (B1098) was not recovered and was jettisoned into the Atlantic Ocean.

B1075 previously supported 21 missions: SDA Tranche 0 (SDA-0A), SARah-2/3, Transporter-11 and 18 Starlink missions. The second side booster (B1072) previously supported the launch of the GOES-U mission.

Falcon Heavy employs three modified, strapped-together first stages of SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. The central booster hosts an upper stage, which is integrated with the payload.

Together, these three boosters generate about 5.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, making Falcon Heavy the second-most-powerful launcher in operation today. The leader is NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) moon rocket, which generates 8.8 million pounds. (SpaceX's Starship creates a whopping 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, but it's currently in flight testing phase).

About 4 hours 57 minutes after liftoff Wednesday, the second stage deployed the 6.6-ton (6 metric tons) ViaSat-3 F3 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. It will use onboard propulsion to reach its final operational position at 155.58 degrees East along the equator.

As its name suggests, ViaSat-3 F3 is the third ViaSat-3 satellite to reach space. ViaSat-3 F1 did so atop a Falcon Heavy in April 2023, and ViaSat-3 F2 followed suit in November 2025 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.

The 6.6-ton satellite is the third and final component of Viasat’s high-throughput broadband constellation, adding over 1 terabit per second of capacity to the network. It's designed to provide internet services to the Asia-Pacific region.

The satellites operate in geostationary orbit which lies 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth. At that altitude, orbital velocity matches our planet's rotational speed, allowing spacecraft to "hover" over the same patch of real estate continuously.

ViaSat-3 F1 currently provides service to customers aboard airliners, and ViaSat-3 F2 will serve people in the Americas when it comes online next month. ViaSat-3 F3 rounds out the ViaSat-3 mini-constellation.

"This launch marks a pivotal moment in our journey to bring fast, secure and reliable high capacity, highly flexible broadband to our commercial, defense and consumer customers," Dave Abrahamian, ViaSat's vice president of space systems, said in a company statement earlier this month.

Falcon Heavy debuted in February 2018 with a test flight that launched SpaceX founder Elon Musk's cherry-red Tesla Roadster into orbit around the sun. The rocket has since flown 10 more successful missions.