Terrestar joins Viasat and Space42's Equatys satellite venture

what happened

Canada's Terrestar Solutions signed a memorandum of understanding with Space42 and Viasat on Oct. 28 in Ottawa to develop an open, standards-based interoperability framework linking Terrestar's planned CaStar LEO constellation with Equatys, the direct-to-device and mobile satellite services platform Space42 and Viasat are building together, per the companies' joint release. The framework would use vendor-neutral interfaces aligned with 3GPP non-terrestrial-network specifications and GSMA roaming standards so CaStar and Equatys can function as a coordinated multi-system network while each operator keeps ownership and control of its own satellites and ground segment. The signing took place during a visit to Canada by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; Terrestar CEO Jacques Leduc said "the future of mobile satellite connectivity won't be built by countries or constellations acting alone." Equatys is backed by up to $1 billion in combined equity commitments from Space42 and Viasat, already disclosed when the venture was formally established in September. Terrestar holds a license for 20 MHz of Canadian MSS spectrum (2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz) dating to 2014 and owns the EchoStar T1 geostationary satellite, per Via Satellite.

why it matters

The MOU extends Equatys's "sovereign shell" model, in which national operators keep their own constellation and ground segment while interworking globally, to a third country; for carriers and governments wary of depending on a single foreign direct-to-device provider, it is a second data point (after the UAE-US tie-up) that Equatys can scale as a multi-country alternative to Starlink Mobile and AST SpaceMobile.

Terrestar joins Viasat and Space42's Equatys satellite venture

what happened

why it matters

signal-to-noise

quick facts