Viasat Sees Aviation Growth, Expects Maritime Rebound
Business aviation remains a growth area for Viasat, and maritime should return to growth next year, CEO Mark Dankberg said in a call with analysts Thursday. Viasat continues integrating capacity from other satellite operators, expanding its in-flight connectivity coverage and…
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capacity. He said that in Viasat's most-recent fiscal quarter, the number of commercial in-flight connectivity aircraft in service grew about 13% year over year, while business jets jumped 18%, and Viasat's aviation backlog gained 22%. Pointing to its ViaSat-3 Flight 1 satellite providing 130 Mbps service on a test of in-flight Wi-Fi capabilities during a 737 flight, he said the next two ViaSat-3 satellites launching should provide even better performance. He said ViaSat-3 Flight 2 should be shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida, this summer and be in service by year's end, adding that Flight 3 should be launched and in service sometime in 2026. With fall's launch of Viasat's NexusWave maritime service, which uses low earth orbit and geostationary orbit satellites, the company is building an order pipeline that should see its maritime business returning to growth in fiscal year 2026, Dankberg said. Asked about the utility of Viasat's L-band spectrum if it's not coordinated contiguously with Ligado's L-band spectrum, he declined to comment, citing Ligado's bankruptcy proceeding.