Ligado-Inmarsat Legal Fight Settles as AST Seeks OK For Commercial SCS Service
Ligado and Viasat's Inmarsat have struck a deal that ends Inmarsat's objections to Ligado's plan to get out of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Inmarsat had fought Ligado's plan to lease its L-band spectrum to AST SpaceMobile (see 2504280047). AST, meanwhile, has asked the FCC to commence commercial supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service.
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AST said the bankruptcy deal clears the path for it to have long-term access to as much as 45 MHz of mid-band spectrum in the U.S. and Canada for direct-to-device (D2D) use. It said under the agreement, Inmarsat will "provide its affirmative support" when AST seeks FCC and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada approval for an L-band non-geostationary orbit satellite system.
AST said the deal has it paying $420 million to Inmarsat on Ligado's behalf on Oct. 31, another $100 million on March 31, 2026, and $15 million on getting regulatory approval.
Viasat said Friday Ligado will drop litigation it brought against Inmarsat in connection with its bankruptcy (see 2501100001) as part of the agreement.
Ligado said in May a tentative agreement with Inmarsat had been reached (see 2505220042). The company in a statement Friday said it plans to seek court approval of the AST agreement later this month and confirmation of its restructuring plan by early August.
AST -- which last year received FCC approval to deploy five BlueBird satellites and begin testing its supplemental coverage from space service (see 2408050026) -- is now seeking commission approval to start commercially providing SCS in the 700 and 800 MHz bands and launch the other 243 BlueBirds. In a Space Bureau application posted Friday, AST said the required chipsets are already in smartphones, so consumers will be able to receive SCS broadband service once its constellation is operational. AST said getting U.S. authorization is a prerequisite to getting authorization in the foreign jurisdictions in which it will seek to provide SCS.
AST asked for approval to start offering SCS service in the U.S. using AT&T’s 800 MHz and lower 700 MHz spectrum and Verizon’s 800 MHz spectrum. It said that with approval, it anticipates orbital launches every one to two months on average during 2025 and 2026. AST said it expects its first with the first Block 2 BlueBird satellite, FM1, will ship to the launch provider in Q2 for a launch scheduled for July. It said that would kick off a launch campaign of more than 60 BlueBirds through the end of next year. AST said its satellite manufacturing should reach a cadence of six satellites per month this year. In its application, AST asked for launch authority by Aug. 1.
Spectrum and satellite consultant Tim Farrar wrote that the Aug. 1 deadline is "ludicrously overoptimistic ... given the likelihood of objections from other co-channel licenses." "Clearly this isn't going to match Starlink's service in the foreseeable future," given the head start SpaceX has in deploying satellite and offering D2D service, he said.
William Blair's Louie DiPalma wrote investors that Viasat has global L-band spectrum assets that are underutilized, and the company potentially could reach spectrum deals similar to Ligado's in other international markets.