CNBC
• Liz Napolitano
SpaceX’s planned acquisition of up to 14 MHz of paired 800-MHz spectrum from Grain Management has sharpened investor focus on its satellite-to-phone ambitions. Piper Sandler downgraded AST SpaceMobile to Neutral and cut its price target to $54 from $98, citing deployment uncertainty in 2026–27; Bernstein also downgraded AT&T over SpaceX competition.
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Viasat Government has ordered multiple ALL.SPACE Hydra MAX terminals for government and defense users needing connectivity on the move. The terminals can transmit across multiple satellite links simultaneously and are approved for Viasat’s global NextGen Ka-band network, including military Ka-band.
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SpaceX’s planned acquisition of up to 14 MHz of paired 800-MHz spectrum from Grain Management has sharpened investor focus on its satellite-to-phone ambitions. Piper Sandler downgraded AST SpaceMobile to Neutral and cut its price target to $54 from $98, citing deployment uncertainty in 2026–27; Bernstein also downgraded AT&T over SpaceX competition.
High activity
Satellite Connect Europe has filed with the International Telecommunication Union for a 344-satellite constellation designed to provide direct-to-device connectivity across Europe. The network is backed by Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile, signaling a potential expansion of satellite-enabled mobile services in the region.
Viasat has secured an initial $42 million task order under the U.S. Space Force’s MECS2 contract to provide global managed satellite communications services for the U.S. Marine Corps. The award expands Viasat’s role in delivering commercial SATCOM capabilities to the U.S. military.
Viasat’s ViaSat-3 F2 satellite is now in service over the Americas, bringing additional capacity to airline connectivity networks and enabling higher inflight Wi-Fi speeds. The activation expands the satellite operator’s ability to support passenger connectivity across one of aviation’s largest markets.
ViaSat said its third and final terabit-class ViaSat-3 broadband satellite has entered service over the Americas. The milestone came days after SpaceX launched the final three satellites for SES’s O3b mPower constellation, marking the completion of both operators’ major network deployment campaigns.
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Viasat has placed ViaSat-3 F2 into service over the Americas, completing the company’s three-satellite geostationary constellation. The milestone brings the full ViaSat-3 network online for customer data services, following F3’s commercial activation across the Asia-Pacific region and the final commissioning of F2 and F3.
Viasat and Poland’s Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa have signed a letter of intent to examine cooperation on advanced military satellite communications, ground infrastructure and broader space capabilities. The agreement, signed Sept. 16, 2026, could establish a framework for future collaboration between the U.S. provider and Poland’s defense group.
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