Space42 and Viasat have signed a binding agreement to establish Equatys, a shared space and ground infrastructure platform aimed at extending mobile coverage to areas where terrestrial networks do not reach.
As co-founders, the two companies have committed to an initial equity contribution of up to $1 billion. The deal marks a formal step forward from an intention to form the venture that was first announced in September 2025, itself building on funded technical and commercial studies into shared non-terrestrial network infrastructure that the two firms launched in March 2025.
What Equatys will do
The platform is built to let smartphones, IoT devices, and other terminals connect directly to satellites for voice, text, and data services in areas with poor or no cellular coverage. It relies on 3GPP Non-Terrestrial Network standards, which allow everyday devices to access satellite networks without needing specialised hardware.
Karim Michel Sabbagh, Managing Director of Space42, framed the approach as a departure from how satellite infrastructure has traditionally been built: "For the first time, the satellite industry is building infrastructure the way the mobile industry thinks: shared, interoperable, standards-based, and designed for billions of devices rather than millions of subscribers."
Equatys will run on a Tower Company model, similar to how terrestrial mobile infrastructure is shared among operators, rather than each carrier building out its own network.
