Viasat says it will not replace satellite that malfunctioned

Viasat said it expects to recover less than 10 percent of the planned throughput on ViaSat-3 F1, its satellite that malfunctioned during deployment in July, but it was confident it could meet the needs of its customers without replacing it.

The US company said it had completed most of the capital cost of the ViaSat-3 constellation, and its capex would decline in its 2025 financial year to between US$1.4 billion and US$1.5 billion ($2.2 to $2.4 billion).

It also said it now expects to reach sustainable positive free cash flow during the first half of the 2025 calendar year rather than the second half, excluding the positive impact of satellite insurance proceeds.

Viasat, which bought its British rival Inmarsat in May, said it had insurance coverage of US$420 million in place for ViaSat-3 F1 and it would finalize its claim before the end of the year.

Shares in the group have lost as much as two-thirds of their value since the malfunction in July.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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