Key Takeaways

  • Viasat and Space42 plan to invest $1 billion in equity in Equatys, targeting direct satellite links for smartphones and IoT devices.
  • Equatys is entering a capital-intensive market where commercial demand, technical standards, spectrum access, and licensing remain in flux.
  • Voice, text, and data support could broaden the addressable market, but execution will depend on network capacity and operator partnerships.

Viasat and Space42 are committing $1 billion in equity to Equatys, a joint venture created to connect smartphones and Internet of Things devices directly to satellites. The planned service will support voice, text, and data, placing Equatys in the expanding direct-to-device, or D2D, satellite market.

The size of the commitment stands out. D2D services promise to extend connectivity beyond terrestrial mobile coverage without asking users to carry a conventional satellite phone or install a large terminal. That proposition could appeal to mobile subscribers in remote areas, emergency-response organizations, transportation operators, energy companies, logistics providers, and businesses managing widely distributed sensors.

Connecting an ordinary handset to a satellite sounds simple from a user's perspective, but the engineering and economics present technical challenges. Smartphones have limited antenna gain and transmission power, while satellites need sufficient coverage, capacity, and link performance to maintain useful service. Voice and data also impose heavier capacity requirements than intermittent emergency messaging.

A common technical foundation is beginning to reduce some of that friction. 3GPP Release 17 established specifications for non-terrestrial networks within the broader 5G ecosystem, including direct-to-device and relay-based operation. Standardization can help chipset makers, handset manufacturers, satellite operators, and mobile carriers work toward compatible implementations rather than isolated proprietary systems.

Equatys arrives as investment accelerates. Deloitte estimates that D2D satellite capacity spending will reach $6 billion to $8 billion in 2026. It also expects cumulative investment across D2D and low Earth orbit broadband to total about $10 billion by the end of 2026. Against that backdrop, the $1 billion planned for Equatys is substantial, yet it reflects how capital-heavy orbital communications can be.

Market forecasts, however, are far from settled. Mordor Intelligence values the D2D satellite connectivity market at $4.08 billion in 2025 and projects it will reach $13.80 billion by 2031. Global Market Insights uses a much narrower 2025 estimate of $637.1 million but forecasts growth to $15.5 billion by 2035.

That gap is revealing. Analysts are applying different definitions to a young category, particularly around whether forecasts include messaging, broadband, specialized IoT links, network infrastructure, or related services. For business planners, the direction of travel may be more useful than any single headline number: investment is rising, but the revenue mix and adoption timetable remain uncertain.

Competition is already taking shape. Viasat and Space42 will position Equatys alongside Starlink, AST SpaceMobile, Globalstar, and Skylo, each approaching satellite-to-device connectivity with different spectrum assets, orbital architectures, service models, and telecom relationships. Translating this financial backing into broad distribution will likely depend on mobile-network agreements almost as much as orbital capacity.

Spectrum and licensing will be another constraint. D2D systems need regulatory approval across multiple jurisdictions, and policymakers are still refining rules for satellite services operating near or through terrestrial mobile frequencies. Questions around interference, power limits, emergency access, roaming, and national spectrum rights can affect where services launch and which devices can use them.

For enterprises, IoT may provide an important early opening. Many connected assets require only small, periodic data transmissions, making satellite links potentially useful when terrestrial coverage is unavailable or inconsistent. Consumer voice and higher-volume data could carry greater commercial appeal over time, but they also place more pressure on network bandwidth.

Equatys represents a sizable bet by Viasat and Space42 that satellite connectivity will become an integrated extension of mobile networks rather than a specialized service used only in extreme locations. The opportunity is broad, but the operational hurdles will test operators' ability to turn equity, standards, and orbital infrastructure into dependable service at commercially workable prices.