, , , ,

TL;DR

AST SpaceMobile agreed on 2025, June 16 to pay 550 million to acquire Ligado’s L-band spectrum rights, fronting 535 million for Inmarsat via a non-recourse financing deal and gaining Inmarsat’s backing for upcoming FCC and ISED filings.

The transaction lets Ligado erase 7.8 billion in debt while holding 15 million in cash, and grants AST access to 40 MHz of U.S. and Canadian mid-band MSS spectrum plus 5 MHz in the 1670–1675 MHz U.S. band.

Completion hinges on regulatory approval and a special-purpose financing vehicle that activates only after green lights, securing spectrum rights through 2107.

$550M for Air and Ambiguity

AST Buys Into Ligado’s Bankruptcy Baggage for a Slice of the Sky

Well, well, well. What do you do when you’re a startup with ambitious satellite dreams and your neighbor’s legal dumpster fire is smoldering? If you’re AST SpaceMobile, you hand over $550 million to bankrupt Ligado Networks.

You’ve reached your monthly reading limit

Create a free account to keep reading, or subscribe for full access.

Log in Register free See plans
Used: 105 / 5 Resets: October 5, 2025 9:10 pm
Counts apply over a rolling 30-day window. Reloading this page won’t increase your count.
0

Related Posts

Restricted Content

This content is sealed tighter than a procurement meeting on Friday at 4 p.m. To get in, you’ll need clearance, ideally accompanied by a badge, a budget code, and the ability to nod through three acronyms you don’t understand.

Push the button. You know you want to.

Or don’t. We’re not here to tell you how to live.