Shares of ViaSat Inc. (VSAT) dropped 7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday following the company’s announcement of a setback in the deployment of one of its satellites. According to a company release, an “unexpected event” occurred during the process of reflector deployment, potentially affecting the performance of the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite that offers broadband services.
ViaSat is actively collaborating with the reflector’s manufacturer to assess the impact and explore possible solutions to address the situation. As part of their contingency plans, the company is considering deploying satellites from their existing fleet to optimize global coverage. Alternatively, they may allocate a subsequent ViaSat-3 class satellite to provide additional bandwidth specifically for the Americas region. These options are being refined to minimize any adverse economic effect on the company.
In early May, ViaSat celebrated the successful launch of the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite. This satellite was designed to significantly enhance available bandwidth, resulting in faster speeds and broader coverage, particularly for their mobility customers.
ViaSat is committed to addressing this setback swiftly and ensuring the continued delivery of its broadband services.
