In a surprising turn of events, Viasat, Inc. has announced that an incident occurred during the deployment of a reflector that could potentially affect the performance of the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite. The company is currently working closely with the reflector’s manufacturer to assess the situation and explore possible solutions.
Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO of Viasat, expressed disappointment regarding the recent developments. However, he also acknowledged the manufacturer’s dedicated efforts to resolve the issue and expressed gratitude for their commitment.
To mitigate any economic impact, Viasat is refining contingency plans. These plans may involve utilizing other satellites from their extensive fleet to optimize global coverage or reallocating a subsequent ViaSat-3 class satellite to provide additional bandwidth for the Americas. The primary focus of ViaSat-3 Americas has been to support the growth of Viasat’s North American fixed broadband business.
It is important to note that this incident does not disrupt services for customers, and there is no impact on the coverage or capacity of the existing Viasat and Inmarsat constellations. Following the acquisition of Inmarsat, Viasat currently has 12 Ka-band satellites in space, excluding ViaSat-3, with eight more under construction.
Viasat plans to provide further updates on the status of the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite and any necessary contingency plans during its upcoming earnings call scheduled for August 9, 2023.
