SkyTerra (SKYT), formerlyMobile Satellite Ventures (MSV orMSVLP), was aReston, Virginia company that developedtelecommunications systems that integratesatellite and terrestrialradio communication technologies into one system. In March 2010, the company was acquired byHarbinger Capital Partners and under the leadership of CEO Sanjiv Ahuja became part of a new company calledLightSquared.[1] The company placed its first satellite, SkyTerra-1, in orbit on November 14, 2010.[2] LightSquared has since then went bankrupt and emerged from bankruptcy asLigado Networks.[citation needed]
The Corporation was founded in 1988 as American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC), a consortium of several organizations originally dedicated to satellite broadcasting of telephone, fax, and data signals. Its acquisition of ARDIS was completed on March 31, 1998. On April 24, 2000, the company changed its name to Motient Corporation, with its stock traded on theNASDAQ National Market under the symbol "MTNT".[3] MSV was formed by the integration of the spun-off satellite operations of Motient and TMI Communications and Company, L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary ofBCE Inc. of Canada.[4] The new company has operations in both America and Canada, providing service to both countries and the Caribbean. MSV changed its name to SkyTerra in December 2008.[5] The company was traded Over-the-Counter and was listed on the OTCBB: SKYT. SkyTerra (formerly ‘Mobile Satellite Ventures’)[6] was the first company to receive a Federal Communications Commission license to deploy Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) technology.[7]
In 2005, SkyTerra purchased 50% of Hughes Network Solutions, a subsidiary of theNews Corp.-ownedDirecTV Group, for $157.4 million, which SkyTerra held under its subsidiaryHughes Communications.[8][9] In January 2006, DirecTV sold its remaining 50% share in Hughes Network Solutions to SkyTerra for $100 million.[10] Hughes Communications was spun off as a separate company in February 2006, with SkyTerra divesting its entire stake in the company to its shareholders.[11]
TerreStar Corporation, formerly Motient Corporation, was the controlling shareholder ofTerreStar Networks Inc. and TerreStar Global Ltd., and a shareholder of SkyTerra Communications.[12]
SkyTerra Communications Inc was acquired by Harbinger Capital Partners on March 29, 2010, for $5.00 per share and became part of LightSquared in July 2010.[13]
Lightsquared went bankrupt. After emerging from bankruptcy LightSquared is rebranding as Ligado Networks.[14]
AMSC initially providedGEO basedsatellite services based on itsMSAT satellite.
Most of their current products and services are aimed at emergency services, law enforcement, and companies that specialize in transportation. However, MSV andBoeing are developing asatellite telephony network for consumers.
The use of Boeing's GeoMobile platform will allow for coverage of the entire United States with a single satellite. This new approach to satellite telephony has already been validated with theThuraya network. MSV's satellite will use an even bigger antenna than the Thuraya spacecraft (at 22 meters in diameter, it will be the largest commercial reflector dish ever used in space),[15] allowing it to communicate with phones no larger thanmodern cell phones because the large antenna gain allows the handset to operate at a power output comparable to regular cell phones. This is now possible since theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) allowed satellite operators to create terrestrial cellular networks using spectrum previously restricted to satellite use,[16][17][18] which means that phones can be compatible with both the upcoming MSV satellite phone network and local cellular networks, allowing a user to communicate over the regular cellular network, and only rely on the satellites in areas outside the range ofcell towers. MSV has earned patents for this set-up.[19] It will be useful in sparsely populated areas where the construction of cell towers is not cost-effective, as well as to emergency-response services which must remain operational even when the local cellular network is out of service.
The SkyTerra space segment consists of theMSAT geostationary satellites MSAT-1 and MSAT-2.[20]
TheSkyTerra 1 (formerlyMSV 1, COSPAR 2010-061A, SATCAT 37218) satellite, a 5,400 kgBoeing 702, was successfully launched fromBaikonur Cosmodrome on November 14, 2010 by anILSProton-M booster. Expected service life of the satellite is 15 years.[21] Its L-band antenna was 22m in diameter, making it the largest commercial antenna built at the time.[22] The initial deployment of the satellite's antenna failed, but the antenna was later deployed successfully one month after launch.[23] In March 2012, the satellite was knocked out by a strong solar flare, but it recovered.
Back when the company was known as Mobile Satellite Ventures, the original plans called for three satellites: MSV 1, MSV 2 and MSV SA. MSV 1 and 2 became later SkyTerra 1 and 2, respectively and MSV SA was dropped from plans. The plan was for MSV 1 and 2 satellites to cover North America and MSV SA to cover South America.
The planned satellite SkyTerra 2 was never launched; however the satellite was built (to some degree at least). After Lightsquared's bankruptcy, the components of the satellite that was to be SkyTerra 2 were repurposed by Boeing to become theMEXSAT satellite.[14]