Catalyzes the phosphorylation of pantothenate to generate 4'- phosphopantothenate in the first and rate-determining step of coenzyme A (CoA) synthesis. {ECO:0000269|PubMed:17631502, ECO:0000269|PubMed:20797618, ECO:0000269|PubMed:27555321, ECO:0000269|PubMed:30927326}. This is the function of Ensembl gene identifier ENSG00000120137 (PANK3, pantothenate kinase 3).