Viasat and Space42 commit up to $1 billion to Equatys venture
Viasat · Space42
Viasat and Space42 formally establish Equatys, a shared direct-to-device satellite venture, with up to $1 billion in equity.
what happened
Space42 and Viasat formally established Equatys, a joint venture to build shared space and ground infrastructure for direct-to-device and mobile satellite connectivity. Each partner commits an initial $400 million, with Space42 expected to add $200 million more in a future round open to outside investors, bringing total commitments to up to $1 billion. The first phase covers fewer than 200 satellites for coverage up to about 50-55 degrees latitude, scaling to a full architecture of 2,800 satellites across 60 orbital planes. Viasat and Space42 are targeting service by the end of 2029, about a year past their original 2025 goal.
why it matters
Equatys is designed as a shared-infrastructure model, like a cell-tower company for satellites, so mobile carriers can buy D2D capacity without building their own constellation. A viable neutral-host D2D operator would give carriers beyond Viasat and Space42's own customers, including in the MENA region where Space42 is based, a non-Starlink option for satellite-to-phone service.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Viasat, Space42
- Category
- partnership
- Impact
- major
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-09-16
- Published
- 2026-09-16 17:34 UTC