By Chris Forrester It is becoming ever-clearer that geostationary satellite operators can no longer serve new clients without access to lower orbiting satellites. SES has its mPOWER O3b fleet. Eutelsat has its OneWeb lower orbiting assets. Now California-based Viasat, which also owns London-based Inmarsat, says it wants a closer relationship with Canada’s Telesat and its upcoming Lightspeed low Earth orbiting scheme. Mark Dankberg, Viasat’s CEO, told analysts during his post-result Q2 earnings call, that Viasat was looking at strategic alternatives. Viasat is already utilising capacity on Eutelsat’s OneWeb fleet. The Telesat Lightspeed fleet is being built by MDA (of Canada) and will be using SpaceX to start launching satellites by mid-2026 and to initiate services in 2027. He explained: “We are also continuing to drive down capital intensity by augmenting our own satellites through both tactical and strategic third- party agreements. By leveraging our own satellite fleet and its diverse capabilities, existing national operator partnerships, and the coverage of additional third-party satellites and constellations we can both ensure our customers are getting the performance and coverage they need and more explicitly measure and drive improved returns on capital. Our satellite operator partners are often national space champions of key countries and geographic regions and are seeking a robust global space eco-system to support their own national security and sovereignty. We are working with both Geostationary and non-Geostationary systems.” Viasat reported $185 million (€171.6m) at its fixed-data division was down 25 per cent year-on-year. Dankberg told analysts that its fixed-data vertical remained the operator’s single biggest headwind. However, Viasat has solid relationships within its Defense & Advanced Technologies (DAT) division, and he said that new contract awards in Q2 set a new record at $1.3 billion and were led by DAT (which doubled YoY awards led by cybersecurity, space and mission systems, and tactical networking), and by aviation connectivity services. Dankberg highlighted that Viasat was still doing well with its Aviation services despite aircraft delays because of problems at Boeing. Revenues in Aviation jumped 17 per cent to $262 million for Viasat’s fiscal second quarter of 2025. Overall total revenues for the quarter-year fell 1 per cent year-on-year to $1.12 billion. Viasat says it continues to expect slightly rising year-on-year growth for its full fiscal year 2025. Its contracted backlog is at $3.747 billion. Related posts: