Key Takeaways
- Viasat shares jumped 7% after Terrestar Solutions agreed to link its planned Canadian constellation with Equatys, Viasat’s satellite venture with Space42.
- Terrestar is the first partner for Equatys’s sovereign-shell model, in which a country owns its network but connects to a global one.
- Partners that pay for their own satellites suit Viasat, which carried $6.9 billion of debt at the end of March 2026.
- The deal isn’t binding, and Equatys faces AST SpaceMobile and SpaceX in connecting phones straight to satellites.
Viasat (VSAT) is up 7% today after landing the first outside partner for Equatys, the direct-to-device venture it’s co-founding with UAE-based Space42.
Before the open, the companies said they’d signed a memorandum of understanding to link Canada’s Terrestar Solutions and its planned CaStar constellation with Equatys. That’s a different route from AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) and SpaceX (SPCX), each building a network it owns outright.
What Terrestar signed up for
The joint release calls the deal “the first example of Equatys’s ‘sovereign shell’ approach.” Terrestar keeps control of CaStar, its ground stations and its customers, while its satellites work with Equatys’s worldwide.
Viasat and Space42 bring more than 100 MHz of globally coordinated mobile-satellite spectrum and deals with over 400 mobile operators. Each country that adds its own shell puts those to work without Viasat paying for the satellites.
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Viasat needs the help
Viasat’s capex outran its cash from operations in four of the last five fiscal years:
Fiscal 2026 left about $600 million after capex. Viasat’s $400 million share of Equatys’s founding equity is two-thirds of that.
And its debt has more than doubled since fiscal 2022:
AST SpaceMobile is paying for its own BlueBird constellation, aiming for about 45 satellites in orbit by early 2027, up from 13 in August. Viasat, which urged the FCC on Monday to reject AST’s overseas spectrum bid, is better off splitting a bill like that.
SpaceX is the bigger rival. Starlink’s Connectivity segment grew revenue 69% to $5.2 billion in the third quarter, and SpaceX has agreed to buy FCC licenses for 800 MHz spectrum to build out Starlink Mobile. Equatys is betting that countries like Canada would rather own their network than rent Starlink’s.
One shell down
My take: Terrestar is small, with one satellite in service today, but it shows the sovereign-shell pitch can sign a country. For a company with this much debt, more partners paying for their own shells would be very welcome.
Of course, this is only a memorandum of understanding, and Equatys still needs regulatory approvals before it’s formed. A second country signing on is the thing to watch.
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