Terrestar signs MoU with Viasat and Space42 on satellite sharing

Canada's Terrestar Solutions has signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE's Space42 and US-based Viasat to build an open framework for sharing satellite infrastructure, aiming to scale direct-to-device (D2D) services while keeping national control over critical networks.

The deal, announced without a disclosed financial value, commits the three companies to developing interoperability standards. Those standards would connect Terrestar's planned CaStar low-Earth orbit (LEO) constellation with Equatys, the shared satellite infrastructure venture formed by Space42 and Viasat.

What does the arrangement actually change?

Under the proposed framework, operators would share network resources while retaining ownership and control of their satellite assets, ground networks and customer relationships. For Terrestar, this means Canadian control of CaStar stays intact, including domestic gateways and ground infrastructure, while the constellation connects with Equatys globally.

The companies argue the approach cuts both capital and operating costs. The logic is straightforward: operators extend coverage without building and running standalone global constellations, which typically require billions of dollars in spacecraft, launches and ground segment.

The framework would coordinate several categories of shared resources:

• satellite capacity
• beams
• power
• ground gateway access

Coordination would run through vendor-neutral interfaces aligned with 3GPP non-terrestrial network specifications, GSMA roaming and interconnection frameworks, and other recognized industry standards.

The Equatys backing and the 'sovereign shell'

Space42 and Viasat agreed last year to establish Equatys, with up to $1 billion in combined equity commitments behind it. At the time, the two companies said the venture would provide shared infrastructure for satellite operators and other companies delivering D2D and advanced mobile satellite services.

The Terrestar agreement carries a particular weight in that context. It marks the first planned application of Equatys' "sovereign shell" model, which combines shared global infrastructure with satellite systems controlled and operated at a national or regional level.

That model addresses a tension at the heart of the D2D market. Governments want domestic oversight of infrastructure deemed critical, while the economics of LEO constellations push toward global scale and shared capacity. The sovereign shell is an attempt to satisfy both demands at once.

Terrestar president and CEO Jacques Leduc framed the deal in explicitly standards-based terms. "The future of mobile satellite connectivity won't be built by countries or constellations acting alone," he said. "It will be built through open standards-based networks that combine national sovereignty with global reach, positioning us to compete at scale."

Standards context matters here

The reference to 3GPP non-terrestrial network specifications is not incidental. D2D services depend on ordinary smartphones connecting to satellites using standardized 5G radio interfaces rather than proprietary hardware, and 3GPP has spent several release cycles defining how that works. GSMA roaming and interconnection frameworks supply the commercial plumbing for cross-network use.

An open, vendor-neutral sharing framework built on those specifications would in principle let a national operator such as Terrestar offer global D2D coverage without surrendering spectrum, assets or customers to a larger constellation operator.

What comes next

The agreement remains a memorandum of understanding, not a binding contract, and no deployment timelines, coverage figures or pricing were disclosed. CaStar has not yet launched. The practical test will come when the three companies convert the framework into working interconnection arrangements, and when Equatys, with its $1 billion in committed equity, begins delivering shared infrastructure that national operators actually plug into.