VIASAT INC
For the period ended Mar 31, 2024. Filed May 29, 2024.
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FY2024 · Filed May 29, 2024
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Item 1. Business
Corporate Information
We were incorporated in California in 1986 under the name Viasat, Inc., and subsequently reincorporated in Delaware in 1996. The mailing address of our worldwide headquarters is 6155 El Camino Real, Carlsbad, California 92009, and our telephone number at that location is (760) 476-2200. Our website address iswww.viasat.com. The information on our website does not constitute part of this report.
Company Overview
We are an innovative, global provider of communications technologies and services, focused on making connectivity accessible, available and secure for current and future customers worldwide. Our end-to-end multi-band platform of satellites, ground infrastructure and user terminals enables us to provide a wide array of cost-effective, high-quality broadband, narrowband and other connectivity solutions to aviation, maritime, enterprise, consumer, military and government users around the globe, whether on the ground, in the air or at sea. In addition, our government business includes a portfolio of communications gateways; situational awareness and command and control products and services; satellite communication products and services across various frequency bands; and cybersecurity and information assurance products and services. We believe that our diversification strategy—anchored in a broad portfolio of customer-centric products and services and supported by our fleet of broadband and narrowband satellites—our vertical integration and our ability to effectively cross-deploy technologies between government and commercial applications and segments as well as across different geographic markets, provide us with a strong foundation to sustain and enhance our leadership in advanced communications and networking technologies. We conduct our business through three segments: satellite services, commercial networks and government systems. In May 2024, certain organizational changes were made that are expected to impact our future internal reporting and reportable segments. The new segment reporting structure is expected to better reflect our strategy following the Inmarsat Acquisition, diverse global end markets, and certain organizational and leadership changes, that allow us to better assess the operational performance of and allocate resources to our multiple product lines. Commencing with the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 we will have two reportable segments: communication services and defense and advanced technologies. See Note 17 — Subsequent Event to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.
On May 30, 2023, we purchased all of the issued and outstanding shares of Connect Topco Limited, a private company limited by shares and incorporated in Guernsey (Inmarsat Holdings and, together with its subsidiaries, Inmarsat), in exchange for approximately $550.7 million in cash and 46.36 million shares of our common stock (the Inmarsat Acquisition). In connection with the closing of the Inmarsat Acquisition, we entered into a $616.7 million senior secured term loan facility (the 2023 Term Loan Facility) and a $733.4 million unsecured bridge loan facility (the Bridge Facility), which were fully drawn at closing. On September 28, 2023, we replaced the Bridge Facility with our 7.500% Senior Notes due 2031 (the 2031 Notes) in the same principal amount and at the same interest rate.
The assets and results of operations of Inmarsat's commercial business are primarily included in our satellite services segment (with an insignificant amount included in our commercial networks segment) and Inmarsat's government business included in our government systems segment for the period following the closing of the Inmarsat Acquisition on May 30, 2023.
Sale of Link-16 TDL Business
On January 3, 2023, we completed the sale of certain assets and assigned liabilities comprising our Link-16 Tactical Data Links business (the Link-16 TDL Business) to L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (L3Harris) in exchange for approximately $1.96 billion in cash, subject to certain adjustments (the Link-16 TDL Sale). Unless otherwise noted, discussion throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K relates to continuing operations only and excludes the Link-16 TDL Business. See Note 5 — Discontinued Operations to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.
Other Acquisitions
On April 30, 2021, we completed our acquisition of the remaining 51% interest in Euro Broadband Infrastructure Sàrl (EBI), a satellite broadband internet service provider in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), from Eutelsat. We paid approximately $167.0 million in cash, net of approximately $22.0 million of purchase price consideration received during the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 and $121.7 million of EBI’s cash on hand, resulting in a cash outlay of approximately $29.0 million.
On April 30, 2021, we completed our acquisition of RigNet, Inc. (RigNet), a leading provider of ultra-secure, intelligent networking solutions and specialized applications. In connection with the acquisition, we issued approximately 4.0 million shares of our common stock to RigNet former shareholders, paid down $107.3 million of outstanding borrowings of RigNet’s revolving credit facility, and retained approximately $20.6 million of RigNet’s cash on hand.
The assets and results of operations of EBI and RigNet are primarily included in our satellite services segment, with insignificant amounts included in our commercial networks segment.
Segments
Satellite Services
Our satellite services segment provides a wide range of satellite-based broadband and narrowband services around the globe using our multi-band fleet of satellites in service as well as leased capacity on third party satellites. Our complementary fleet of 20 in service or operational satellites spans the Ka-, L- and S- bands, with ten high-bandwidth Ka-band satellites, eight high-availability L-band satellites (three of which are contingency L-band satellites that are operational but not currently in service), an S-band satellite that supports the European Aviation Network (EAN) to provide IFC services to commercial airlines in Europe, and an I-6 class hybrid Ka-/L-band satellite (the I-6 F1 satellite). In addition the ViaSat-3 F1 satellite has nearly completed in-orbit testing (IOT) and is expected to be integrated into our existing satellite fleet initially covering the Americas. Furthermore, we have ten additional geostationary (GEO) and highly-elliptical earth orbit (HEO) satellites under development: two additional high-capacity Ka-band GEO satellites (ViaSat-3 F2 and ViaSat-3 F3), three additional adaptive Ka-band GEO satellites (Inmarsat GX 7, GX 8 and GX 9), two Ka-band HEO satellite payloads intended to provide polar coverage (Inmarsat GX 10a and GX 10b) and three Inmarsat-8 L-band GEO safety service satellites. Our deep satellite fleet enables us to provide a wide array of high-quality broadband and narrowband services with near global coverage (including strong oceanic coverage) with greater redundancy and resiliency.
The primary services offered by our satellite services segment include:
Aviation Services, including industry-leading IFC and wireless in-flight entertainment (W-IFE) services for commercial aircraft and private jets and narrowband safety services, as well as complementary aviation software services (such as cockpit, data safety and surveillance). The data capacity of our IFC systems enables all passengers and crew to receive in-flight internet service in the air similar to the internet service available on the ground, supporting applications such as high-speed web browsing, streaming and social media applications. The high quality of our IFC services is demonstrated by the numerous awards and accolades they have received, including 2023 and 2022 APEX Passenger Choice awards for best Wi-Fi. Our W-IFE service is a cloud-based platform providing passengers with access to a wide range of premium entertainment, video and information services maintained on an onboard server and wirelessly delivered direct to passengers’ own devices. As of March 31, 2024, our IFC systems were installed and in service on approximately 3,720 commercial aircraft, of which approximately 70 were inactive at fiscal year end (mostly due to standard aircraft maintenance). We anticipate that approximately 1,360 additional commercial aircraft will be put into service with our IFC systems under existing customer agreements with commercial airlines. However, due to the nature of commercial airline contracts, there can be no assurance that anticipated IFC services will be activated on all such additional commercial aircraft.
Maritime Services (primarily derived from the Inmarsat Acquisition), which offer high-quality, resilient satellite-based broadband and narrowband communications services around the globe to commercial shipping fleets, offshore service vessel operators and commercial fishing companies. Our maritime service offerings are complemented by a suite of safety communications capabilities, security, Internet-of-Things (IoT) integration and crew welfare solutions.
Fixed Broadband Services, which offer high-speed, high-quality, reliable broadband internet services to businesses and residential users (primarily in the United States as well as in various countries in Europe and Latin America), as well as enterprise connectivity solutions. Our service offerings include premium data plans with download speeds of up to 150 Mbps in select areas in the United States. We also offer wholesale and retail fixed broadband services to our distribution partners.
Energy Services (primarily derived from our acquisition of RigNet in April 2021), which include secure, reliable networking and connectivity solutions for remote sites and operations, and industry-leading machine learning analytics.
IoT and Other Narrowband Services, such as L-band managed services that enable real-time machine-to-machine (M2M) position tracking, direct-to-device services, high-value asset tracking, industrial IoT and analytics.
Community Internet Services, which offer innovative, affordable internet services through satellite-based community hotspots in areas with little or no access to the internet. These services help foster digital inclusion by providing the opportunity for millions of people to connect to affordable, high-quality internet services via a centralized terminal connected to the internet via satellite, that is then used to provide community hotspots, home broadband and mobile broadband. We provide community internet services in Mexico and Brazil.
We believe that growth in our satellite services business will be driven in the coming years by the continued surging of demand for global mobility services (such as our aviation and maritime services), reflecting the continuing increases in the number of aircraft and maritime vessels in service, passenger volumes, internet users, applications and connected devices and platforms worldwide. Commercial global mobility services represent a very large and fast-growing addressable market, and are at the core of our growth strategy in our satellite services business. We expect that, as the number of aircraft, maritime vessels and passengers around the globe continue to grow, global mobility bandwidth demands will be effectively and reliably met by our fleet of organic and partner satellites.
Commercial Networks
We are a leading end-to-end network technology and equipment innovator and supplier in broadband satellite markets. In addition to developing our own proprietary satellite systems (such as our proprietary ViaSat-3 satellite design), our commercial networks segment develops and sells a wide array of advanced satellite and wireless products, antenna systems and network and terminal solutions that support or enable the provision of fixed and mobile broadband and narrowband services. We design, develop and produce space system solutions for multiple orbital regimes, including GEO, HEO, medium earth orbit (MEO) and low earth orbit (LEO).
Our products, systems and solutions are generally developed through a combination of customer funding and discretionary internal research and development (R&D) funding, with products often linked through common underlying technologies, customer applications and market relationships. For example, products, systems and solutions developed and sold in our commercial networks segment are often complementary to those developed and sold to government customers in our government systems segment, and our portfolio of government and military offerings in our government systems segment leverages our technological investments in our commercial networks segment. Our commercial networks segment also drives growth in our satellite services segment. For example, the IFC terminals sold and installed on commercial aircraft and business jets in our commercial networks segment are then utilized to receive IFC services, driving recurring revenues in our satellite services segment.
The primary products, systems, solutions and services offered by our commercial networks segment are comprised of:
Mobile Satellite Communication Systems, which include satellite-based broadband and narrowband systems and products designed for use in aircraft, land-mobile and seagoing vessels, such as the IFC systems we install on commercial aircraft and private jets. These systems and products are designed to provide high-speed, cost-efficient broadband access to customers while on the move, and also utilize fixed broadband satellite infrastructure.
Fixed Satellite Communication Systems, which include next-generation satellite network infrastructure and ground terminals designed to enable access to a wide variety of broadband and narrowband satellite-based services. Products and solutions in this category include space-to-earth connectivity systems, ground network infrastructure, user terminals and design and implementation for customer telecommunication systems. We also offer related products and services to enterprise customers to address bandwidth constraints and other issues. In addition to commercial sales of these products and solutions, our fixed broadband satellite communication systems also support our own fleet of proprietary Ka-band satellites.
Antenna Systems, which include state-of-the-art ground and airborne terminals, antennas and gateways for terrestrial and satellite customer applications (such as real-time Earth imaging and remote sensing services, mobile satellite communication, Ka-band earth stations and other multi-band/multi-function antennas).
Space Systems Design and Satellite Networking Development, which includes the design and development of the architecture of high-capacity Ka-band geosynchronous satellites and the associated satellite payload and antenna technologies (both for our own satellite fleet as well as for third parties), and special purpose LEO and MEO satellites and other small satellite platforms, as well as semiconductor design for application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chips. Satellite networking development includes specialized design and technology services covering all aspects of satellite communication system architecture, networks and technology. Products and services include analysis, design and development of satellite and ground communications systems and network function virtualization, as well as ground-based network subsystems for various commercial, military and space uses.
We believe growth in our commercial networks business will be driven in the coming years by the continued surging growth in worldwide demand for mobile and fixed broadband connectivity. As the cost-effectiveness of satellite technologies to rapidly deploy broadband services across wide geographic areas and to large numbers of people continues to increase, we believe demand for the terminals, antenna systems, ground networking equipment and products that enable or support access to satellite-based services will continue to grow.
Government Systems
We are a leading provider of innovative communications and cybersecurity products and solutions to the U.S. Government and other military and government users around the world. Our government systems segment offers a broad array of complementary products and services designed to enable the collection and transmission of secure real-time digital information and communications between fixed and mobile command centers, intelligence, defense and homeland security platforms and individuals in a dispersed environment. Customers of our government systems segment include the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), other elements of the U.S. federal government, state governments, foreign governments, allied armed forces, public safety first-responders and remote government employees.
The primary products and services of our government systems segment include:
Government Mobile Broadband Products and Services, which provide military and government users with high-speed, real-time broadband and multimedia connectivity in key regions of the world, as well as line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Our government mobile broadband services include high-bandwidth global communications services in support of VIP and senior-level airborne operations and emergency response, as well as LOS and BLOS ISR missions. Products include mobile broadband modems, terminals, network access control systems and antenna systems using a range of satellite frequency bands capable of being installed and operated on a wide variety of fixed wing, rotary wing, manned and unmanned aircraft, ground vehicles and maritime platforms. Services include advanced mobility services to governments for aircraft and ships, as well as for nomadic and ground-based missions. Our high-capacity, secure mobile broadband products and services are enabled by our next-generation satellite network infrastructure, which will be further enhanced following the launch of commercial service on our ViaSat-3 constellation.
Government Narrowband Products and Services(primarily provided by Inmarsat prior to the Inmarsat Acquisition), which provide military and government users with L-band products and services such as Tactical Beyond Line of Sight (L-TAC) communications, L-band airborne ISR services and L-band Advanced Communications Element (LACE) terminals.
Government Satellite Communication (SATCOM) Systems, which offer an array of portable, mobile and fixed broadband modems, terminals, network access control systems and antenna systems using a range of satellite frequency bands for Command and Control (C2) missions, satellite networking services, and network management systems for Wi-Fi and other internet access networks. Our SATCOM systems, products and services are designed to support high-throughput broadband data links, to increase available bandwidth using existing satellite capacity, and to be resilient to withstand certain catastrophic events. Our range of SATCOM broadband modems, terminals and systems support high-speed broadband and multimedia transmissions over point-to-point, mesh and hub-and-spoke satellite networking systems, and include products designed for manpacks, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), seagoing vessels, ground-mobile vehicles, space-based systems and fixed applications.
Secure Networking, Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Products and Services, which provide advanced, high-speed IP-based “Type 1” and High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryption (HAIPE®)-compliant encryption solutions that enable military and government users to communicate information securely, and that protect the integrity of data stored on computers and storage devices. Our encryption products and modules use a programmable, high-assurance architecture that can be easily upgraded in the field or integrated into existing communication networks, and are available both on a stand-alone basis and as embedded modules within our tactical radio, information distribution and other SATCOM systems and products. Our Move Out/Jump Off (MOJO) expeditionary tactical gateway family of products provides a complete LOS and BLOS communications system for on-the-move and at-the-pause air, land, and sea applications.
We believe that growth in our government systems business will be driven in the coming years by continued growth in demand for high-speed, high-quality, secure, resilient and reliable connectivity services (and the associated user terminals, ground infrastructure and encryption systems) to support government and military operations around the globe, with governments increasingly utilizing space-based resources to support their national security needs.
Our Strengths
We believe the following strengths position our business to capitalize on attractive growth opportunities in our business:
Deep Satellite Fleet Spanning Multiple Frequency Bands. Our multi-band satellite platform with 20 satellites in space enables us to provide customers with the services they need to cost-efficiently and reliably meet their connectivity needs, including at peak times in the most congested areas. Customers in our target markets demand high-quality, reliable connectivity services that can meet mission-critical needs at the busiest places and times, backed by robust and measurable service level agreements. Our deep and capital-efficient satellite fleet, with multiple GEO satellites providing near-global broadband and narrowband coverage (including strong oceanic coverage and, once the two GX 10 satellite payloads under development are brought into service, polar reach), is ideally suited to meet these customer needs – and will be further enhanced by our ten additional GEO and HEO satellites under development. Demand for bandwidth is highly geographically concentrated, with 90% of total bandwidth demand estimated to be concentrated in just 15% of the Earth’s surface. Our GEO satellites, with their wide “field of view” and ability to flexibly and dynamically allocate capacity to meet constantly fluctuating bandwidth demands within each satellite’s footprint, enable our satellite platform to reliably and efficiently meet the peak capacity needs of our customers at the busiest times in areas of high congestion, such as airports, ports, major population centers and key transit routes. In addition, the high capacity of our satellites enables us to provide Terabits of capacity at attractive prices. In contrast, a satellite fleet comprised exclusively of LEO satellites typically suffers from a surplus of capacity in low-demand areas, and unreliable or insufficient capacity at times and places of high demand, given each satellite’s very narrow field of view. We are focused on delivering industry-leading fleet utilization and productivity to further drive down bandwidth fulfillment costs while also improving service quality.
Broad Array of Complex, Complementary Service Offerings, Tailored to Customer Needs. We offer a broad array of high-quality satellite-based broadband and narrowband services, combined with complementary software and encryption services with multiple applications. For example, in addition to IFC terminals and our award-winning IFC services, we offer aviation customers complementary service offerings such as W-IFE, encryption solutions and integrated cockpit and safety software services. Similarly, in addition to high-quality broadband connectivity services and terminals, we offer our maritime customers comprehensive software-defined managed services (such as critical safety communications capabilities, security, IoT integration and crew welfare solutions). Our ability to offer bundled complex and complementary services, products and solutions to our customers, tailored to individual customer needs and market opportunities, helps us to differentiate our offerings from our competitors and drive deeper customer engagement and “stickiness.”
Innovation of Next-Generation Satellite and Space Technologies. We have a long history of innovation in next-generation satellite and space technologies. Our first-generation, high-capacity Ka-band satellite, ViaSat-1, earned a Guinness World Records® title in 2013 as the highest-capacity communications satellite in the world at that time. Our second-generation ViaSat-2 satellite almost doubled the bandwidth capacity of ViaSat-1 and added expanded geographic reach, and in 2018 was selected as a winner in the ‘Space, Platforms’ category of Aviation Week’s 61st Annual Laureate Awards, honoring extraordinary achievements in the global aerospace arena. Our third-generation ViaSat-3 class satellites utilize a new satellite architecture with miniaturized electronics and more productive and efficient antenna designs. This new satellite design is expected to significantly expand the geographic coverage area and data capacity of each satellite and to further enhance our ability to flexibly and dynamically allocate capacity to match demand, resulting in greater speed, availability and cost-efficiency. We believe our history since inception of developing proprietary and innovative satellite technologies spanning spacecraft, ground infrastructure, user terminals and network design demonstrates that we possess the expertise and credibility required to serve the evolving technology needs of our customers whether on the ground, in the air or at sea.
Vertically Integrated End-to-End Platform of Leading Technologies. We believe our innovative ecosystem of satellites, ground infrastructure and user terminals creates significant synergies in our business and positions us to drive operational efficiencies and cost-effectively deliver a diverse portfolio of high-quality broadband and narrowband solutions and applications to enterprise, consumer, military and government users. Our product, system and service offerings are often linked through common underlying technologies, customer applications and market relationships. We believe that our comprehensive and predominately vertically integrated portfolio of satellites, products and services, combined with our ability to effectively cross-deploy technologies between government and commercial segments and across different geographic markets, provides us with a strong foundation to sustain and enhance our leadership in broadband technologies and services.
Diversification of Business Model. Our business is highly diversified across many different verticals. Our core business includes IFC systems and services for commercial, private and military aircraft around the globe, high-quality broadband and narrowband systems and services for maritime vessels and land mobile users, fixed broadband user terminals and services to consumers and enterprises, and a wide portfolio of broadband, narrowband and cybersecurity information assurance products and services for government and military users. This diversification in product and service offerings, customer base, geography and market segment helps to reduce our exposure to fluctuations in any of the individual markets we serve and to provide resilience in our business performance in times of economic or political disruption. For example, during fiscal year 2021, revenue impacts to our commercial aviation business in our satellite services and commercial networks segments resulting from the global disruption in the airline industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were offset by strong demand in our fixed broadband services business and other parts of our business.
Diverse Portfolio of Market-Leading Military and Government Offerings. We are a leading provider of innovative communications, cybersecurity and information assurance products and solutions to the U.S. Government and other military and government users around the world. These products and services enable the transmission of secure real-time digital information and communications between fixed and mobile command centers, intelligence, defense and homeland security platforms and individuals. Our portfolio of government and military offerings leverages our technological investments in our commercial business, and includes expeditionary tactical gateways, small satellite development, fixed and mobile satellite broadband systems and services, cybersecurity and information assurance products and services. Total new awards in our government systems segment (excluding awards relating to our Link-16 TDL Business sold to L3Harris in January 2023) grew from approximately $0.6 billion in fiscal year 2018 to $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2024 (including approximately $0.7 billion in awards related to our Inmarsat Acquisition which closed during first quarter of fiscal year 2024), despite an uneven defense spending environment, reflecting the high demand for our diverse portfolio of products and services for military and government users. Our expeditionary tactical gateways bridge the gap between air and ground forces by providing secure, reliable access to air and ground data transmitted over disparate networks for improved situational awareness capabilities and support communications. Our small satellite development work is market leading and is designed to enable a new tactical space layer for our government customers, enabling increasingly advanced precision operations and maneuvering. Our mobile satellite broadband offerings leverage our innovative satellite technologies and proprietary Ka-band satellite platforms, allowing us to provide high-speed, high-quality internet services to government and military personnel, aircraft, ships and land vehicles. Our secure networking products and services include a broad portfolio of advanced, high-speed Type 1 encryption solutions that are capable of operating at speeds of up to 200 Gbps, as well as advanced cybersecurity products to detect and mitigate malicious network effects. In February 2021, we received enhanced cybersecurity accreditation from the DHS through their Enhanced Cybersecurity Services (ECS) program. As an accredited ECS provider, we receive DHS-provided sensitive and classified cybersecurity threat indicators and information to defend U.S.-based public and private computer networks, including state and local governments, against unauthorized access, denial, degradation, exploitation and data exfiltration.
Blue-Chip Customer Base. Our blue-chip customer base includes customers such as the U.S. Government, leading aerospace and defense prime contractors, foreign governments, commercial airlines, civil agencies, satellite network integrators, large communications service providers and enterprises requiring complex communications and networking solutions and services. We believe that the credit strength of these key customers helps support more consistent financial performance. Moreover, our direct relationships with key customers such as commercial airlines and the DoD allow us to adapt our satellite designs and product and service offerings to better meet their desired outcomes.
Experienced Management Team and Diversified Board of Directors. Our core management team is comprised of seasoned executives with significant leadership experience in satellite communications, defense, aerospace, global mobility and integration. For example, our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Dankberg, has been with Viasat since its inception in 1986. Mr. Dankberg is considered to be a leading expert in the field of satellite, wireless and defense communications. K. Guru Gowrappan, who joined Viasat in April 2023 as our President, brings extensive leadership experience building products globally and operationalizing and scaling businesses across ecosystems. In addition, in recent years we undertook a conscious effort to diversify our Board of Directors, bringing in a wide variety of skills and experience aligned with our long-term goals. Our Board of Directors is comprised of a diverse range of high-profile corporate leaders with extensive experience in globalization, communications, space operations, and technology and business integration.
Our Strategy
Our business strategy is to maintain our leadership position in utilization and yield with cost-efficient, high-quality satellite-based communications products and services, focused on making connectivity accessible, available and secure for current and future customers worldwide in attractive growth markets. Our strategic purpose is to responsibly and efficiently serve our customers by matching their increasing demand for bandwidth in the right place, at the right time – even in the highest demand locations – with our high capacity dynamic global satellite networks alongside hybrid multi-orbit, multi-band network service capabilities. By taking advantage of our fleet of organic and partner satellites, and the dynamic beam-forming of our newest ones, we can derive and deliver substantially more value from already on-orbit resources. The principal elements of our strategy include:
Drive Capital Efficiencies
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Deliver the Most Productive Satellite Systems: We are hyper-focused on maximizing the useful bandwidth per total lifetime capital cost of each satellite. We refer to this as “bandwidth productivity” and see this metric as a key factor in determining our return on satellite investment for each satellite we design, develop and build. However, it is our focus to drive productivity and returns at the fleet level that we believe will give us the greatest competitive advantage in serving our customers globally across a diversity of attractive markets.
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Drive Efficiencies of Scale and Operations: We intend to continue to drive efficiencies in our businesses through our vertical integration and other strategies and increasing scale as we move into new and adjacent geographic, product and service markets. We optimize our satellite systems through our development of an end-to-end platform of next-generation satellites, ground networking equipment and user terminals that enable the provision of a broad array of high-quality broadband and narrowband services. Our deep fleet of GEO satellites provide scale and operational efficiencies through their enhanced ability to efficiently and dynamically match supply and demand through the flexible allocation of capacity by service, time and geography within the satellite footprint, as well as through their near global geographic reach.
Focus on Relentless Execution
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Maintain Focus on Technology Leadership: We continue to focus on strategic R&D to bring more efficient, effective and customer-centric high-quality broadband and narrowband communications to the global market. Our continued innovation in satellite system product development has been one of our hallmarks. We intend to maintain our leadership position in satellite systems, technologies and services, while continuing to expand our efforts in wireless communications, cloud networking and security, as well as new and emerging technologies such as direct-to-device and space-to-space communications. Our R&D efforts are supported by a global employee base that includes approximately 3,600 engineers and a culture that deeply values and supports innovation.
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Follow Our Path of Proven Performance: We have an enviable track record for identifying and bringing to market impactful communications technologies in space systems. For example, ViaSat-1 was the highest capacity communications satellite at the time of its launch; ViaSat-2 almost doubled the capacity of ViaSat-1; and the ViaSat-3 F2 and ViaSat-3 F3 satellites are individually anticipated to have significantly greater data capacity and geographic coverage than our ViaSat-2 satellite and to enable us to deliver affordable connectivity across a large geographic footprint spanning nearly one-third of the globe with a design that has an enhanced ability to flexibly and dynamically allocate capacity to markets where bandwidth usage demands and returns are highest.
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Customer-Centricity Evolution: We are focused on continuing to increase our customer interactions and have incorporated new technologies, tools and learnings from artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhanced customer intimacy techniques and customer advisory councils. Our satellite systems have been designed to serve the specific requirements of our customers in the mobility and government sectors. We strive to continue to improve our ongoing customer engagements through proactive response, deeper customer insights and enhanced customer exchanges. This is an ongoing effort that will continue to be an investment and nurture opportunity for us.
Continue to Expand into New Markets and Geographies
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Enter and Disrupt New and Adjacent Markets through Technology Innovation: We continue to create or address new and adjacent markets using our technological advancements to disrupt existing business models and drive shifts in target markets and user demand. For example, the technological innovations and power of our proprietary Ka-band satellite network enabled us to disrupt the IFC business model and successfully expand our broadband service offerings into the commercial air market. As the capacity of our satellite systems continues to increase as we bring new ViaSat-3 and Inmarsat GX satellites currently under development into commercial service, we expect the addressable markets for our technologies, products and services to continue to expand. Higher capacity, more flexible satellites, and layers of GEO/HEO satellites covering each region, will allow us to offer a broader array of cost-effective, reliable, high-quality broadband services that can be tailored to different geographic regions and bandwidth usage demands.
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Think Beyond Current Customer Requirements to Open New Markets: In our government systems business, we actively identify market or operational needs that are not currently served by existing communications and encryption products and services, with a view to developing unique or disruptive products and services and creating new addressable markets. In fact, a key component to the continued success of Viasat’s defense business is its expansive portfolio of non-developmental items (NDI), which are designed to rapidly deliver cutting-edge technology solutions well ahead of the traditional government procurement model. Our business model delivers advanced capabilities significantly faster, at lower lifecycle costs and with lower risk to the customer when compared to traditional defense acquisition programs and timelines.
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Target International Expansion. We have placed tremendous effort in recent years on growing our operations, sales/distribution, customer/partner base and regulatory framework globally, including through the Inmarsat Acquisition, with the addition of Inmarsat's satellite fleet enabling us to provide high-quality broadband and narrowband services with near global coverage (including strong oceanic coverage and, once the two GX 10 satellite payloads under development are brought into service, polar reach). We continue to believe that international markets provide attractive opportunities for the long-term growth of our business. As worldwide demand for broadband connectivity continues to grow, we expect that our comprehensive offering of next-generation broadband and narrowband satellites, advanced end-to-end communication systems and ground networking equipment and products, and their ability to enable a wide range of cost-effective, high-quality broadband and narrowband services, will be increasingly attractive internationally. Demand profile differs by geographic market, reflecting geographic, economic, political, regulatory and other factors. However, the flexibility, high bandwidth capacity and broad geographic coverage area of our multi-band satellite fleet allow us to tailor our service offerings for the opportunities and needs of different geographic markets.
Prioritize the End-User
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Recognize Connectivity is a Means to an End, not an End in Itself. The value of a network is in the applications it enables. With this understanding, we have worked closely with leading edge and content providers (including companies such as Apple, Facebook, and DirecTV, among others) to enhance end-users’ experiences with their online and streaming media services over our network, helping them leverage the potential of making affordable broadband available in places where it has never been. We also work with U.S. Government agencies, major airlines and others on multiple continents to help ensure end-users have satisfying — and affordable — experiences on our network. Our expanded multi-band satellite fleet enables us to provide services with near global coverage (including strong oceanic coverage and, once the two GX 10 satellite payloads under development are brought into service, polar reach) with greater redundancy and resiliency. In addition, we work with various international governments to help bring digital and social inclusion to their constituents through efficient satellite-enabled services such as our community internet services, which offer community hotspots, home broadband and mobile broadband in unserved and underserved areas using satellite-powered centralized terminals. By making broadband connectivity accessible to millions of people living in regions where traditional terrestrial and wireless internet services were either non-existent or cost prohibitive, we have been able to help generate positive socio-economic impacts — in education, e-commerce, finance, healthcare and more — at lower bandwidth costs.
Manage for the Long Term
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Pursue Growth Through Strategic Alliances, Partnering Arrangements and Relationships. We actively seek strategic relationships and joint ventures with companies whose financial, marketing, operational or technological resources may accelerate the introduction of new technologies, service offerings and/or the penetration of new markets. For example, we have entered into strategic agreements with local partners in Brazil and Mexico to bring high-speed, affordable internet to unserved and underserved communities, which allows us to gain market insights and build brand awareness in those countries. In our government systems segment, we also regularly enter into teaming arrangements with other government contractors to more effectively capture complex government programs. We may continue to evaluate acquisitions of, or investments in, complementary companies, businesses, products or technologies to supplement our internal growth.
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Encourage Safe Sustainable Access to Space. We strive to be a leader in bringing benefits of space technology to the world in a sustainable, responsible and inclusive way. We are focused on cooperating with a broad range of responsible nations and global partners to ensure safe, responsible and equitable access to space for all.
Our Customers
Our customer base is highly diversified. Customers of our satellite services segment reflect the diversity in our service offerings and include commercial airlines, maritime commercial shipping fleets, offshore service vessel operators, commercial fishing companies, residential customers, small and medium-sized businesses and enterprises. The customers of our government systems and commercial networks segments include the DoD, the DHS, select other U.S. federal, state and local government agencies, foreign governments, allied armed forces, public safety first-responders, remote government employees, commercial and defense contractors, satellite network integrators, large communications service providers and enterprises requiring complex communications and networking solutions. Customers of our government systems segment also include various defense contractors, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Space Agency, as well as privately held companies, international organizations and non-government entities that support government businesses worldwide. We enter into government contracts either directly with U.S. or foreign governments, or indirectly through domestic or international partners or resellers. In our commercial networks segment, we also act as both a prime contractor and subcontractor for the sale of equipment and services.
Revenues from the U.S. Government as an individual customer comprised approximately 17%, 17% and 18% of total revenues for fiscal years 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. None of our other customers comprised 10% or more of total revenues in fiscal years 2024, 2023 or 2022.
U.S. Government Contracts
Substantial portions of our revenues are generated from contracts and subcontracts with the DoD and other federal government agencies. Many of our contracts are subject to a competitive bid process and are awarded on the basis of technical merit, personnel qualifications, experience and price. We also receive some contract awards involving special technical capabilities on a negotiated, noncompetitive basis due to our unique mix of communication products, satellite services, engineering capabilities and technical expertise in specialized areas. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 has encouraged the use of commercial type pricing, such as firm fixed-price contracts, on dual use products. Our future revenues and income could be materially affected by changes in government procurement policies and related oversight, a reduction in expenditures for the products and services we provide, and other risks generally associated with federal government contracts.
We provide products and services under federal government contracts that usually require performance over a period of several months to multiple years. Long-term contracts may be impacted based on when the government appropriated funds are available and to what level, which may result in a delay, reduction or termination of these contracts.
Our federal government contracts are performed under cost-reimbursement contracts, time-and-materials contracts and fixed-price contracts. Cost-reimbursement contracts provide for reimbursement of costs and payment of a fee. The fee may be either fixed by the contract or variable, based upon cost control, quality, delivery and the customer’s subjective evaluation of the work. Under time-and-materials contracts, we receive a fixed amount by labor category for services performed and are reimbursed for the cost of materials purchased to perform the contract. Under a fixed-price contract, we agree to perform specific work, which may include product R&D, for a fixed price and, accordingly, realize the benefit or detriment to the extent that the actual cost of performing the work differs from the contract price. In fiscal year 2024, approximately 6% of our total government revenues were generated from cost-reimbursement contracts with the federal government or our prime contractors, less than 1% from time-and-materials contracts and approximately 94% from fixed-price contracts.
Our allowable federal government contract costs and fees are subject to audit and review by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), as discussed below under “Regulatory Environment — Other Regulations.”
Our federal government contracts may be terminated, in whole or in part, at the convenience of the U.S. Government. If a termination for convenience occurs, the U.S. Government generally is obligated to pay for work completed or services rendered and/or the cost incurred by us under the contract, which may include a fee or allowance for profit. Contracts with prime contractors may have negotiated termination schedules that apply. When we participate as a subcontractor, we are at risk if the prime contractor does not perform its contract. Similarly, when we act as a prime contractor employing subcontractors, we are at risk if a subcontractor does not perform its subcontract.
Some of our federal government contracts contain options that are exercisable at the discretion of the customer. An option may extend the period of performance for one or more years for additional consideration on terms and conditions similar to those contained in the original contract. An option may also increase the level of effort and assign new tasks to us.
Our eligibility to perform under our federal government contracts requires us to maintain adequate security measures. We have implemented security procedures that we believe adequately satisfy the requirements of our federal government contracts.
Research and Development
The industries in which we compete are subject to rapid technological developments, evolving standards, changes in customer requirements and continuing developments in the communications and networking environment. Our continuing ability to adapt to these changes, and to develop innovative satellite and communications technologies, and new and enhanced products and services, is a significant factor in maintaining or improving our competitive position and our prospects for growth. Therefore, we continue to make significant investments in next-generation satellite technologies and communications product and services development.
We conduct the majority of our R&D activities in-house and have R&D and engineering staff, which includes approximately 3,600 engineers worldwide. Our product development activities focus on products that we consider viable revenue opportunities to support all of our segments. We incurred $150.7 million, $128.9 million and $149.5 million during fiscal years 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, on independent research and development (IR&D) expenses, which comprise R&D not directly funded by a third party. Funded R&D contains a profit component and is therefore not directly comparable to IR&D. As a U.S. Government contractor, we may also recover a portion of our IR&D expenses, consisting primarily of salaries and other personnel-related expenses, supplies and prototype materials related to R&D programs.
Intellectual Property
We seek to establish and maintain our proprietary rights in our technology and products through a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and contractual rights. We also seek to maintain our trade secrets and confidential information through nondisclosure policies, the use of appropriate confidentiality agreements and other security measures. We have registered a number of patents and trademarks in the United States and in other countries and have a substantial number of patent filings pending determination. There can be no assurance, however, that these rights can be successfully enforced in any particular jurisdiction. Although we believe the protection afforded by our patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and contractual provisions has value, the rapidly changing technology environment in the industries we work in (including the internet, networking, satellite and wireless communications industries) and uncertainties in the legal process make our future success dependent primarily on the innovative skills, technological expertise and management abilities of our employees rather than on the protections afforded by patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and contractual rights. Accordingly, while these legal protections are important, they must be supported by other factors such as the expanding knowledge, ability and experience of our personnel, and the continued development of new products and product enhancements.
Certain of our products and services include software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties. While it may be necessary in the future to seek or renew licenses relating to various aspects of our products and services, we believe, based upon past experience and standard industry practice, that such licenses generally could be obtained on commercially reasonable terms. Nonetheless, there can be no assurance that the necessary licenses would be available on acceptable terms, if at all. Our inability to obtain these licenses or other rights or to obtain such licenses or rights on favorable terms, or the need to engage in litigation regarding these matters, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
The industry in which we compete is characterized by rapidly changing technology, a large number of patents, and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. We cannot assure you that our patents and other proprietary rights will not be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, that others will not assert intellectual property rights to technologies that are relevant to us, or that our rights will give us a competitive advantage. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries may not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States.
Sales and Marketing
We have a sales presence in various domestic and international locations, and we sell our products and services both directly and indirectly through partners, as described below:
Satellite Services Sales Organization. Our satellite services sales organization involves both direct and indirect channels and varies based on subscriber and service type. Our commercial aviation offerings are sold direct to airlines, and our business aviation offerings are sold through direct sales and business development personnel as well as through aviation-focused value-added resellers. Our maritime service offerings are sold through direct and indirect value-added reseller partners targeting a variety of maritime commercial prospects. In each case, our focus is to identify business opportunities and develop solutions for the unique needs of each customer segment. Our residential fixed broadband services are primarily sold directly to customers through our Viasat Internet website, sales call centers and active retail dealers, and we utilize extensive dealer networks across the United States, as well as in each country where residential fixed broadband services are offered, to sell such services. Our business internet offerings are sold through a mix of direct sales personnel who work with enterprises and a network of enterprise-focused master agents and wholesale distribution partners. Finally, our community internet services are sold through local distribution partnerships.
Commercial Networks Sales Organization. Our commercial networks sales organization consists of sales managers and sales engineers, who act as the primary interface to establish account relationships and determine technical requirements for customer networks. In addition to our sales force, we maintain a highly-trained service staff to provide technical product and service support to our customers. The sales cycle in the commercial network market is often lengthy and it is not unusual for a sale to take up to 18 months from the initial contact through the execution of the agreement. The sales process often includes several network design iterations, network demonstrations and pilot networks consisting of a few sites.
Government Systems Sales Organization. Our government systems sales organization consists of both direct sales personnel who sell our standard products and services, and business development personnel who work with engineers, program managers, marketing managers and contract managers to identify business opportunities, develop customer relationships, develop solutions for customers’ needs, prepare proposals and negotiate contractual arrangements. The period of time from initial contact through the point of product sale and delivery can take over three years for more complex product developments. Products already in production can usually be delivered to a customer between 90 to 180 days from the point of product sale.
Strategic Partners. To augment our direct sales efforts, we seek to develop key strategic relationships to market and sell our products and services. We direct our sales and marketing efforts to our strategic partners, primarily through our senior management relationships. In some cases a strategic ally may be the prime contractor for a system or network installation and will subcontract a portion of the project to us. In other cases, the strategic ally may recommend us as the prime contractor for the design and integration of the network. We seek strategic relationships and partners based on many factors, including financial resources, technical capability, geographic location and market presence.
Our marketing team works closely with our corporate and segment leadership, customer account executives, and business development, sales and operations organizations to increase the awareness and value of the Viasat brand through a mix of positive program performance, agile, results-oriented multichannel marketing campaigns that reflect new and evolving customer journeys, public relations, paid and owned media, live and virtual events, and conference speaking engagements that keep the market current on our services, products and features. Viasat products and services, both in the U.S. and internationally, are typically sold under one unified master global brand, using a single logo and visual identity system. Our marketing team also identifies and sizes new and adjacent target markets for our products and services, evaluates our customer experience, creates awareness of our company and our portfolio of offerings, and generates contacts and leads within these targeted markets.
Competition
The markets in which we compete are characterized by rapid change, converging technologies and a migration to solutions that offer higher capacity and speed and other superior advantages. These market factors represent both an opportunity and a competitive threat to us. In many cases our competitors can also be our customers or partners. Accordingly, maintaining an open and cooperative relationship is important. The overall number of our competitors may increase, and the identity and composition of competitors may change. As we continue to expand our business globally, we may see new competition in different geographic regions.
To compete, we emphasize:
the high-quality, resilience, reliability, security and broad geographic availability of our service offerings;
our deep understanding of our customers’ unique expectations and requirements;
our proven designs and network integration services for complex, customized network needs;
our demonstrated performance in uniquely challenging environments;
the increased bandwidth efficiency offered by our networks, products and services;
our safety certified L-band network enabling robust safety services for aviation, government and maritime customers;
our advanced security and information assurance capabilities;
the innovative and flexible features integrated into our products and services;
our network management experience;
our end-to-end network implementation capabilities;
the distinct advantages of satellite data networks;
the technical advantages and advanced features of our antenna systems as compared to our competitors’ offerings; and
the overall cost-effectiveness of our communications systems, products and services.
While we believe we compete successfully on each of these factors, we expect to continue to face intense competition in each of our markets.
In our satellite services segment, our aviation service offerings compete against air-to-ground mobile services and other satellite-based services, such as the services offered by Anuvu (formerly Global Eagle), Gogo, Intelsat, SES, SpaceX, Thales Group, SmartSky, Iridium and Panasonic Avionics Corporation, among others. Our maritime service offerings compete against Marlink, Navarino, KVH, SES, SpaceX and Speedcast, among others. In our fixed broadband business, we compete with broadband service offerings from wireline and wireless telecommunications companies, including cable companies, fiber and DSL companies, satellite companies and fixed wireless companies. New entrants, some with significant financial resources and new emerging offerings (including terrestrial and space-based networks, such as LEO and MEO constellations) also compete with our satellite service offerings.
In our commercial networks segment, we compete with numerous other providers of satellite and terrestrial communications systems, products and equipment, including: CPI Antenna Systems Division, Comtech, EchoStar (Hughes Network Systems), General Dynamics, Gilat, iDirect Technologies, Newtec, L3Harris, Panasonic Avionics Corporation, Safran Aerosystems, Maxar, SpaceX and Thales Group. In addition, some of our customers continuously evaluate whether to develop and manufacture their own products and could elect to compete with us at any time.
Within our government systems segment, we generally compete with government communications service providers and manufacturers of defense electronics products, systems or subsystems, such as BAE Systems, Collins Aerospace, General Dynamics, Intelsat, Iridium, Eutelsat, OneWeb, SES, SpaceX, Telesat, L3Harris, EchoStar (Hughes Network Systems) and similar companies. We may also compete directly with the largest defense prime contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Technologies Corporation. In many cases we partner with our competitors, and therefore maintaining an open and cooperative relationship is important.
Many of our competitors have significant competitive advantages, including strong customer relationships, more experience with regulatory compliance, greater financial and management resources and access to technologies not available to us. Many of our competitors are also substantially larger than we are, may have greater brand recognition, substantial capital resources or more extensive engineering, manufacturing and marketing capabilities than we do, may have access to spectrum or technologies not available to us, or may be able to offer bundled service offerings that we are not able to replicate. As a result, these competitors may be able to adapt more quickly to changing technology or market conditions or may be able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products.
Manufacturing
Our manufacturing objective is to produce high-quality products that conform to specifications at the lowest possible manufacturing cost. To achieve this objective, we primarily utilize a range of contract manufacturers that are selected based on the production volumes and complexity of the product. By employing contract manufacturers, we are able to reduce the costs of products and support rapid fluctuations in delivery rates when needed. As part of our manufacturing process, we conduct extensive testing and quality control procedures for all products before they are delivered to customers.
Contract manufacturers produce products for many different customers and pass on the benefits of large-scale manufacturing to their customers. These manufacturers are able to produce high quality products at lower costs by: (1) exercising their high-volume purchasing power, (2) employing advanced and efficient production equipment and capital intensive systems whose costs are leveraged across their broad customer base, and (3) using a cost-effective skilled workforce.
Our experienced management team facilitates an efficient contract manufacturing process through the development of strong relationships with a number of different domestic and offshore contract manufacturers. By negotiating beneficial contract provisions and purchasing some of the equipment needed to manufacture our products, we retain the ability to move the production of our products from one contract manufacturing source to another if required. Our operations management has experience in the successful transition from in-house production to contract manufacturing. The degree to which we employ contract manufacturing depends on the maturity of the product and the forecasted production life cycle. We intend to limit our internal manufacturing capacity to supporting new product development activities, building customized products that need to be manufactured in strict accordance with a customer’s specifications or delivery schedules, and building proprietary, highly sensitive Viasat-designed products and components for use in our proprietary technology platform. Therefore, our internal manufacturing capability for standard products has been, and is expected to continue to be, very limited and we intend to continue to rely on contract manufacturers for large-scale manufacturing. Our internal manufacturing capability is dependent on the availability of essential materials, parts and subassemblies from our suppliers and subcontractors. We use numerous sources for the wide array of raw materials required for our operations and our products, such as electronic components, printed circuit boards, metals and plastics. Although alternative sources generally exist for these raw materials, qualification of the sources could take a year or more. We also rely on outside vendors to manufacture specific components and subassemblies used in the production of our products. Some components, subassemblies, and services necessary for the manufacture of our products are obtained from a sole source supplier or a limited group of suppliers.
Regulatory Environment
We are required to comply with the laws and regulations of, and often obtain approvals from, national and local authorities in connection with the services that we provide. In particular, we provide a number of services that rely on the use of radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, and the provision of such services is highly regulated. National authorities generally require that the satellites they authorize be operated in a manner consistent with the regulations and procedures of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the United Nations, which require the coordination of the operation of satellite networks and systems in certain circumstances, and more generally are intended to avoid the occurrence of harmful interference among different users of RF spectrum.
We also produce a variety of communications systems and networking equipment, the design, manufacture, and marketing of which are subject to the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which we sell such equipment. We are subject to export control laws and regulations, and trade and economic sanctions laws and regulations, with respect to the export of such systems and equipment. As a government contractor, we are subject to procurement laws and regulations.
Radio-frequency and Communications Regulation
International Telecommunication Union
The orbital location and frequencies for our satellites are subject to the ITU’s regulations, including its frequency registration and coordination procedures, and its various provisions on spectrum usage. Those procedures are specified in the ITU Radio Regulations and seek to facilitate shared international use of limited spectrum and orbital resources in a manner that avoids harmful interference. Among other things, the ITU Radio Regulations set forth procedures for establishing international priority with respect to the use of such resources, deadlines for bringing satellite networks into use in order to maintain such priority, and coordination rights and obligations with respect to other networks, which vary depending on whether such networks have higher or lower ITU priority.
The ITU Radio Regulations provide allocations or designations for how spectrum can be used for various purposes, and whether such uses operate on a primary or secondary basis with respect to one another. Secondary uses may not cause harmful interference to primary uses and may not claim interference protection from primary uses.
On our behalf, various countries have made ITU filings, and may in the future make additional filings, for the frequency assignments at particular orbital locations that are used, or may in the future be used, by our current satellite networks and potential future satellite networks we may build or acquire. In the event that any international coordination process that is triggered by such an ITU filing is not successfully completed, or bringing into use deadlines or requirements are not satisfied, we may be compelled to accept more limited or suboptimal orbital and spectrum rights, to operate the applicable satellite(s) on a non-interference basis, or to cease operating such satellite(s) altogether. The orbital arc is becoming increasingly congested with respect to such ITU filings and the satellite networks operated under those filings.
In addition, the ITU Radio Regulations are subject to change at periodic ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRCs), and their application is determined by various governing bodies within the ITU. WRCs typically are convened approximately every four years, with the next one scheduled to occur at the end of calendar year 2027. The next WRC is expected to consider various changes to the ITU Radio Regulations that address the terms and conditions under which spectrum is used for satellite and terrestrial purposes, and future WRCs are likely to do the same.
Spectrum
The space stations and ground networks we use to provide our broadband, VoIP, and other services rely on access to spectrum within each country in which we do business. Use of such spectrum is authorized by regulatory authorities within each country (or a regional authority whose jurisdiction over spectrum rights encompasses that country), which determine the terms and conditions for access to and use of that spectrum in that particular country. The terms and conditions for access can and do vary by country, may differ from the ITU Radio Regulations, and may change over time. In particular, the growing demand for both satellite and terrestrial communications services is causing many countries to evaluate how spectrum is used within their borders, and to consider changes in the local terms and conditions for access to and use of spectrum. Those terms and conditions affect, among other things, the extent to which, and how, we must share spectrum with other spectrum users, including terrestrial and satellite uses, and whether we must operate on a secondary basis in some cases. Most of the spectrum on which we rely is shared with other satellite networks, including those operating in different orbits that could cross our orbital location and result in interference conditions. In many countries, portions of the spectrum on which we rely also are shared with terrestrial wireless services.
If the deployment of new terrestrial or satellite networks results in harmful interference into our satellite operations, or if the implementation of those networks under newly adopted terms and conditions constrains or prohibits the types of spectrum uses for which we have planned in a manner that we do not anticipate, such developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Broadband Services
We provide high-speed broadband internet access, VoIP, and other services to customers in the United States, as well as in Europe and Latin America, and on aircraft and seagoing vessels travelling around the world. Our provision of these services is subject to a number of legal obligations, including requirements to obtain licenses, authorizations, and/or registrations to provide service in or to a given jurisdiction, implementation of certain network capabilities to assist law enforcement, and open internet requirements. Legislators and regulators often consider changes to existing statutes, rules, and requirements, or prescribe new ones, which could significantly impact the ability to comply, or the costs of complying with, these types of obligations, or that otherwise could materially and adversely affect our ability to provide service in a given jurisdiction.
US Regulation
The commercial use of RF spectrum in the United States is subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Communications Act). The FCC is responsible for licensing the operation of satellite earth stations and spacecraft, regulating the technical and other aspects of the operation of these facilities, and regulating certain aspects of the provision of services to customers.
Earth Stations. The Communications Act requires a license for the operation of transmitting satellite earth station facilities and certain receiving satellite earth station facilities in the United States. We currently hold licenses authorizing us to operate various earth stations within the United States, including, but not limited to, user terminals and facilities that aggregate traffic and interconnect with the internet backbone and network hubs. These licenses typically are granted for
15-year terms, and typically are renewed in the ordinary course. Material changes in earth station operations would require prior approval by the FCC. The operation of our earth stations is subject to various license conditions, as well as the technical and operational requirements of the FCC’s rules and regulations.
Space Stations. In the United States, the FCC authorizes the launch and operation of commercial spacecraft, and also authorizes non-U.S.-licensed spacecraft to be used to serve the United States. The FCC has authorized the use of the ViaSat-1, ViaSat-2, WildBlue-1, and Anik F2 spacecrafts and one ViaSat-3 class spacecraft (ViaSat-3 F1) to serve the United States. The use of these spacecraft in our business is subject to various conditions in the underlying authorizations, as well as the technical and operational requirements of the FCC’s rules and regulations.
Universal Service and Other Broadband Subsidies. Certain of our services may constitute the provision of telecommunications to, from, or within the United States, and we are required to contribute a percentage of our revenues from such services to universal service support mechanisms that subsidize the provision of services to low-income consumers, high-cost areas, schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. This percentage is set each calendar quarter by the FCC, and currently is 32.8%. Current FCC rules permit us to pass this universal service contribution through to our customers. The FCC has established universal service funding mechanisms to support the provision of voice and broadband services in certain high-cost areas of the United States. These supporting mechanisms are known as the Connect America Fund (CAF) and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). In addition, under the new Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, funding for broadband service is expected to be distributed by U.S. states and territories under the oversight and administration of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Among other things, the CAF, RDOF, and BEAD mechanisms provide, or will likely provide, support to terrestrial service providers under terms and conditions that are not available to satellite-based service providers. The CAF and RDOF mechanisms could provide other service providers a competitive advantage in providing broadband services in supported areas, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, Viasat has been awarded $122.5 million in support under the CAF program to serve certain portions of the country, and must comply with federal and state obligations imposed in connection with such support.
CALEA. We are obligated to comply with the requirements of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which requires telecommunications providers and broadband internet access providers to ensure that law enforcement agencies are able to conduct lawfully authorized surveillance of users of their services.
Net Neutrality. In February 2015, the FCC adopted new rules intended to preserve the openness of the internet, a concept generally referred to as “net neutrality” or “open internet.” The FCC’s net neutrality rules, among other things, prohibited all ISPs from: (i) blocking access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices (subject to an exception for “reasonable network management”); (ii) impairing or degrading lawful internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices (subject to the same exception); (iii) favoring some lawful internet traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind whatsoever; and (iv) unreasonably interfering with or unreasonably disadvantaging the ability of end users to access content or the ability of content providers to access end users (again subject to the exception for reasonable network management). ISPs also were obligated to make certain disclosures to consumers with respect to their network management policies.
In adopting these rules, the FCC relied on Title II of the Communications Act, which authorizes the FCC to regulate telecommunications common carriers. More specifically, the FCC reclassified mass-market retail broadband internet access service as a “telecommunications service” subject to common-carrier regulation under Title II, reversing longstanding precedent classifying broadband as a lightly regulated “information service”notsubject to such regulation. Such common-carrier regulation potentially could have included review of the reasonableness of an ISP’s rates and practices.
In January 2018, the FCC adopted an order restoring the classification of broadband internet access service as a lightly regulated information service, ending the Title II regulatory approach adopted in 2015. The order eliminated explicit requirements against blocking or throttling traffic and paid prioritization of traffic. At the same time, the FCC maintained the consumer disclosure requirements with some modifications and acknowledged the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission to enforce consumer protection measures. The 2018 order was largely upheld by the D.C. Circuit.
In April 2024, the FCC adopted an order largely reverting to the 2015 approach by reclassifying mass-market broadband internet access service as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act and re-establishing the prior net neutrality rules. The order also adopted certain additional requirements that were not part of the 2015 framework, such as entry regulation under Title II. In addition, legislative proposals that would impose net neutrality requirements have been considered in Congress, and some states have adopted versions of the net neutrality requirements. A lawsuit challenging California's net neutrality statute was dismissed without prejudice in May 2022, and the California statute is now in effect. Other legislative actions at the state level are being challenged in courts on federal preemption and other grounds. We cannot predict the outcome of these pending lawsuits or federal and state regulatory and legislative efforts, or any resulting impact on ISPs.
Privacy and Data Security. We are subject to federal and state laws concerning the privacy of consumers and the security we apply to their personal information. Certain of these laws provide privacy protections for certain types of personal information related to our voice services (referred to by such laws as customer proprietary network information). The Federal Trade Commission also oversees consumer privacy and data security more broadly through its authority to take enforcement action for unfair or deceptive practices, and state consumer protection laws can prompt review of privacy practices by state attorneys general. In addition, certain states have established specific consumer privacy and data security requirements, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act that amended the CCPA in January 2023, which combined give California residents, among other things, the right to receive certain disclosures regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information, as well as rights to access, delete, and restrict the sale and sharing of certain personal information collected about them by us and our service providers. State laws similar to those in California continue to multiply and evolve, and as various states pass their own comprehensive privacy laws, we and our business customers and partners could be exposed to additional regulatory complexities and obligations. Many states also have enacted security breach notification laws requiring notice to consumers and government agencies upon disclosure of certain information to an unauthorized party resulting from a security breach. In addition, the SEC recently issued enhanced requirements related to the reporting of material cybersecurity incidents, and the FCC likewise has issued new data breach notification rules for providers of telecommunications services.
Foreign Regulation
Our operation of spacecraft and ground network and our provision of services to customers outside of the United States are subject to legal requirements of the jurisdictions issuing the satellite authorizations and in which Viasat provides services. These include obtaining the market access, spectrum access and licenses, authorizations and/or registrations that are necessary to operate or provide service in or to a given jurisdiction, and in many cases licenses for the operation of transmitting satellite earth station facilities and certain receiving satellite earth station facilities. In particular, we must obtain authority to operate various earth stations outside the United States, including but not limited to user terminals and facilities that aggregate traffic and interconnect with the internet backbone and network hubs. This authority is subject to conditions and limitations that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
The spacecraft we use in our business are subject to the regulatory authority of, and conditions imposed by, foreign governments, as well as contractual arrangements with third parties and the rules and procedures of the ITU. Our ViaSat-1 satellite operates under authority granted to ManSat Limited by the governments of the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom (as well as authority from the FCC), and pursuant to contractual arrangements we have with ManSat Limited that extend past the expected useful life of ViaSat-1. ViaSat-2 and various Inmarsat satellites operate under the authority of the United Kingdom. ViaSat-3 F1 operates under the authority of the United Kingdom and the FCC. We also use Ka-band capacity on the Anik F2 satellite to provide our broadband services under an agreement with Telesat Canada, and we may do so until the end of the useful life of that satellite. Telesat Canada operates that satellite under authority granted to it by the government of Canada. We also currently use the WildBlue-1 satellite, which we own, and which is co-located with Anik F2 under authority granted to Telesat Canada by the government of Canada, and pursuant to an agreement we have with Telesat Canada that expires upon the end of the useful life of Anik F2. Accordingly, we are reliant upon ManSat Limited and Telesat Canada maintaining their respective governmental rights on which our operating rights are based. The use of these spacecraft in our business is subject to various conditions in the underlying authorizations held by us, ManSat Limited and Telesat Canada, as well as the technical and operational requirements of the rules and regulations of those jurisdictions.
We are also subject to certain other forms of foreign regulation in connection with our provision of communications services. In the area of privacy, we are subject to existing, new, and evolving laws and regulations in the markets in which we operate. For instance, certain of our business units are subject to the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation, which imposes transparency, accountability, data protection, cross-border data transfer, and other obligations on Viasat both as a data controller and a data processor of the personal data of individuals in the EU. Privacy laws and regulations can be subject to differing interpretations and may be inconsistent among jurisdictions. Certain foreign jurisdictions in which we operate also impose requirements related to network management practices, cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, and other matters. A smaller number of foreign jurisdictions in which we operate have adopted laws enabling the government to suspend ISP services in the country.
Equipment Design, Manufacture, and Marketing
We must comply with the applicable laws and regulations and, where required, obtain the approval of the regulatory authority of each country in which we design, manufacture, or market our communications systems and networking equipment. Applicable laws and regulatory requirements vary from country to country, and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The increasing demand for wireless communications has exerted pressure on regulatory bodies worldwide to adopt new standards for these products, generally following extensive investigation and deliberation over competing technologies. The delays inherent in this government approval process have in the past caused and may in the future cause the cancellation, postponement or rescheduling of the installation of communication systems by our customers, which in turn may have a material adverse impact on the sale of our products to the customers.
Equipment Testing and Verification. Certain equipment that we manufacture must comply with applicable technical requirements intended to minimize radio interference to other communications services and ensure product safety. In the United States, the FCC is responsible for ensuring that communications devices comply with technical requirements for minimizing radio interference and human exposure to radio emissions. Other regulators perform similar functions around the world. These types of requirements typically provide for equipment to be tested either by the manufacturer or by a private testing organization to ensure compliance with the applicable technical requirements. In some cases, the regulator requires submission of an application, which must be approved by the regulator or a private testing organization accredited by the regulator.
Export Controls. Due to the nature and sophistication of our communications products, we must comply with applicable U.S. Government and other agency regulations regarding the handling and export of certain of our products. This often requires extra or special handling of these products and could increase our costs. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in substantial harm to us, including fines, penalties and the forfeiture of future rights to sell or export these products.
Aviation-Related Regulation
Aircraft Modification. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for the regulation and oversight of civil aviation within the United States. The FAA develops and enforces airworthiness standards and regulations that certify the industry’s ability to manufacture aircraft and aircraft components, perform modification and maintenance activities on aircraft, and repair equipment previously installed on aircraft. We interact with the FAA regarding aircraft modification through two main activities: (1) supporting Type Certificate (TC) activity with an aircraft original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to obtain linefit installation certification of our IFC and W-IFE equipment and (2) obtaining a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to enable the retrofit installation of our IFC and W-IFE equipment. With respect to TC activity, the OEM is responsible for full certification and FAA regulatory compliance and we are responsible for providing certified equipment to the OEM. With respect to STC activity, we typically use Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) to support holding and maintaining our STCs to ensure FAA regulatory compliance. We also work with OEMs and airlines internationally who are not subject to the FAA's jurisdiction. In those situations, we adhere to the regulations and oversight of comparable foreign agencies in the applicable jurisdictions. Our commercial aviation business depends on our ability to interact with the FAA, comparable foreign agencies and ODAs, as well as certified engineering professionals, in order to access data and obtain authorizations and approvals.
Parts Manufacturing Approval. We have a wide range of products supporting both commercial and business aviation customers. The FAA, under its Part Manufacturing Approval (PMA) program, provides authorization to entities like us and our vendors to manufacture and deliver IFC and W-IFE equipment. These approvals are provided through assigned FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Offices and are subject to strict rules and ongoing oversight. We have been able to obtain PMA on all of our current IFC and W-IFE product offerings due to multiple agreements with both major OEMs for linefit installations and ODAs for retrofit installations.
FAA Part 145 Repair Stations. The FAA has approved several of our locations as 14 CFR Part 145 repair stations, which enables us to provide ongoing support to customers with respect to our IFC and W-IFE systems. These repair stations support both line-replaceable unit (LRU) and line maintenance activities associated with our IFC and W-IFE products. These approvals are provided and overseen by FAA Flight Standards District Offices. We have also obtained European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval for our repair stations dedicated to LRU repair and maintenance for our IFC and W-IFE products.
Environmental Regulations
We are subject to a variety of U.S. and international regulations relating to the storage, discharge, handling, emission, generation, manufacture and disposal of toxic or other hazardous substances used to manufacture our products. In addition, we could be affected by future U.S. or international laws or regulations imposed in response to concerns over climate change, and we monitor developments in environmental and climate-related laws and regulations and their potential impact to our business and financial condition. The failure to comply with current or future laws or regulations could result in the imposition of substantial fines on us, suspension of production, alteration of our manufacturing processes or cessation of operations. To date, the current regulations have not had a material effect on our business, as we have neither incurred significant costs to maintain compliance nor to remedy past noncompliance, and we do not expect such regulations to have a material effect on our business in the current fiscal year.
Other Regulations
As a government contractor, we are routinely subject to audit and review by the DCMA, the DCAA and other U.S. Government agencies of our performance on government contracts, indirect rates and pricing practices, accounting and management internal control business systems, and compliance with applicable contracting and procurement laws, regulations and standards. Both contractors and the U.S. Government agencies conducting these audits and reviews have come under increased scrutiny. In particular, audits and reviews have become more rigorous and the standards to which we are held are being more strictly interpreted, increasing the likelihood of an audit or review resulting in an adverse outcome. Increases in congressional scrutiny and investigations into business practices and major programs supported by contractors may lead to increased legal costs and may harm our reputation and profitability if we are among the targeted companies. An adverse outcome to a review or audit or other failure to comply with applicable contracting and procurement laws, regulations and standards could result in material civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions being imposed on us, which may include termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, triggering of price reduction clauses, suspension of payments, significant customer refunds, fines and suspension, or a prohibition on doing business with U.S. Government agencies. In addition, if we fail to obtain an “adequate” determination of our various accounting and management internal control business systems from applicable U.S. Government agencies or if allegations of impropriety are made against us, we could suffer serious harm to our business or our reputation, including our ability to bid on new contracts or receive contract renewals or our competitive position in the bidding process. Any of these outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Seasonality
In our satellite services segment, we typically see increased demand for our IFC services from airline passengers during peak holiday and summer travel periods, and historically subscriber activity for our fixed broadband services has been influenced by seasonal effects related to traditional retail selling periods (with new sales activity generally anticipated to be higher in the second half of the calendar year). However, IFC service uptake, sales activity and churn can be strongly affected by other factors which may either offset or magnify any anticipated seasonal effects, including the grounding of aircraft, flight disruptions, availability of capacity, promotional and subscriber retention efforts, changes in our resellers, distributors and wholesalers, changes in the competitive landscape, economic conditions, and other factors affecting customer demand.
Our commercial networks segment is not generally affected by seasonal impacts. In our government systems segment, our results are impacted by various factors including the timing of contract awards (with the second quarter of our fiscal year, for example, typically receiving a greater number of government contract awards) and the timing and availability of U.S. Government funding, as well as the timing of product deliveries and customer acceptance.
Availability of Public Reports
Through a link on the Investor Relations section of our website atwww.viasat.com, we make available the following filings as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC: our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All such filings are available free of charge. They are also available free of charge on the SEC’s website atwww.sec.gov.
We webcast our earnings calls and post the materials used in meetings with members of the investment community on the Investor Relations section of our website. Additionally, we provide notifications of news or announcements regarding our financial performance, including SEC filings, investor events, press and earnings releases and other supplemental information about our business on the Investor Relations section of our website. We also use the Investor Relations section of our website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investor Relations section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Information relating to our corporate governance, including our certificate of incorporation, bylaws, corporate governance guidelines, board committee charters and guide to business conduct, is also included on the Investor Relations section of our website. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is neither incorporated by reference into nor made a part of this report.
Human Capital
Employees. As of March 31, 2024, we employed approximately 7,500 individuals worldwide, with 64% of our workforce located in the United States. We consistently engage with our employees and generally consider the relationships with our employees to be positive, with a significant majority stating that they are proud to work at Viasat. Competition for technical personnel in our industry is intense. We believe our future success depends in part on our continued ability to attract, hire, engage and retain qualified personnel.
Human Capital Resources. Viasat has a long history of putting people first. We believe that one of the most important investments we make is in our people. Our mission to connect the world depends on our ability to come together as one team to make a positive impact. As a global team, we take pride in our culture of teamwork, trust and collaboration. We prioritize our employees’ health and well-being to ensure we are all able to do our best work. For example, we have a dedicated global environmental, health, and safety (EHS) team which reinforces the importance of our safety programs and encourages a culture of safe work practices in all of our locations. All employees are trained with our EHS Essentials course, with additional courses such as "Working with hazardous material" provided annually for relevant employees.
We provide a comprehensive benefits package to all of our employees, which includes for eligible employees medical, dental, vision care, disability insurance, life insurance benefits, flexible spending plan, a 401(k) savings plan, educational reimbursement program, employee assistance program, employee stock purchase plan, holidays and personal time off which includes vacation and sick days as needed.
Our key pillars of human capital management are ensuring the health and safety of our employees, developing talented people, fostering diversity and inclusion and engaging communities. We believe that our long-term success is in large part dependent on our success across these dimensions, and we will continue to invest in and prioritize these areas in the future.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The diversity of our employees is one of our most treasured assets. Our strategy for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is to embed and embrace DEI in everything we do, from how we approach talent to our overall business strategy. We understand that an authentic commitment to DEI starts with inclusive and equitable recruitment and talent development practices. In fiscal year 2022, we began applying hiring attribute lenses to recruitment practices to enable a more effective assessment of candidates to the talent needs of Viasat. To date, we have ten active employee resource groups designed to build meaningful connections among employees around shared experiences, cultures and interests.
Executive Officers
Set forth below is information concerning our executive officers and their ages:
| Name | Age | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Dankberg | 69 | Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer |
| Robert Blair | 50 | Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary |
| Girish Chandran | 59 | Chief Technical Officer |
| Evan Dixon | 43 | President, Global Fixed Broadband |
| James Dodd | 62 | Senior Vice President and President, Aviation |
| Shawn Duffy | 54 | Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
| K. Guru Gowrappan | 43 | President |
| Kevin Harkenrider | 68 | Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Corporate Officer |
| Craig Miller | 52 | President, Global Space Networks |
| Mark Miller | 64 | Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer |
| Krishna Nathan | 62 | Chief Information Officer |
| Ben Palmer | 52 | President, Maritime |
Mark Dankberg is a founder of Viasat and has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since its inception in May 1986, except for the period from November 2020 to June 2022 when he served as Executive Chairman. Mr. Dankberg provides Viasat with significant operational, business and technological expertise in the satellite and communications industry, and intimate knowledge of the issues facing our management. Mr. Dankberg also has significant expertise and perspective as a member of the boards of directors of companies in various industries, including communications. Mr. Dankberg currently serves on the board of Lytx, Inc., a privately-held company that provides fleet safety management solutions. Prior to founding Viasat, he was Assistant Vice President of M/A-COM Linkabit, a manufacturer of satellite telecommunications equipment, from 1979 to 1986, and Communications Engineer for Rockwell International Corporation from 1977 to 1979. Mr. Dankberg holds B.S.E.E. and M.E.E. degrees from Rice University.
Robert Blair joined Viasat in May 2008 as Assistant General Counsel. In April 2009, Mr. Blair was appointed Associate General Counsel and in 2014 was appointed Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. In May 2017, Mr. Blair served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary beginning in May 2017 and assumed his current position as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in December 2021. In addition, Mr. Blair has served as a director of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation since 2015. Prior to joining Viasat, Mr. Blair was an associate at the law firm of Latham & Watkins LLP. Mr. Blair holds a J.D. degree from Stanford University and A.B. degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Policy Studies from Syracuse University.
Girish Chandran joined Viasat in October 2007 as a Principal Engineer. In September 2013, Mr. Chandran was appointed Chief Technology Officer — Commercial Networks. In May 2017, he assumed his current position as Chief Technical Officer. Mr. Chandran has extensive experience building multimedia networks. Prior to joining Viasat, from 2001 to 2007, Mr. Chandran served as Vice President of Engineering at Newtec America Inc., a satellite communications equipment provider. From 1995 to 2001, he held several roles, including Vice President of Systems Engineering, at Tiernan Communications Inc. (acquired by Radyne Comstream Inc.), a provider of video compression and transmission solutions. Mr. Chandran earned a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego, an M.S. degree in Electrical Communication Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science and a BSc. degree in Physics from the University of Kerala.
Evan Dixon joined Viasat in 2015 and served as Deputy CEO and Chief Marketing Officer of Euro Broadband Infrastructure Sàrl (which was at that time 49% owned by Viasat). In March 2018, he was appointed Vice President and General Manager of Viasat Europe, and in March 2020, he was appointed President, Global Fixed Broadband. Mr. Dixon previously held senior management positions at DIRECTV, a satellite television company, and AT&T Inc., a telecommunications company. Mr. Dixon holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado and an M.B.A. degree from Pepperdine University.
James Dodd joined Viasat in March 2020 as President, Global Mobile Solutions. In December 2020, he was appointed Senior Vice President and President, Global Enterprise & Mobility, and in August 2023, he assumed his current position as Senior Vice President and President, Aviation. Prior to joining Viasat, Mr. Dodd held a number of senior-level aviation management and engineering roles at Boeing, focused on complex Department of Defense and international contracted programs, overseeing strategic planning, execution, engineering and business development. Mr. Dodd was retired from October 2016 to February 2020, and at Boeing served as Vice President and Program Manager — Mobility, Surveillance and Engagement from 2015 to September 2016, Vice President and Program Manager — Weapons and Missile Systems from 2013 to 2014, and Vice President and Program Manager — Phantom Works, Advanced Boeing Military Aircraft from 2011 to 2012. Mr. Dodd earned an M.B.A. degree from Seattle University and a B.S. degree in Physics from Arkansas State University.
Shawn Duffy joined Viasat in 2005 as Corporate Controller. In 2009, she was appointed Viasat’s Vice President and Corporate Controller and in 2012 was appointed Vice President — Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. From August 2012 until April 2013, Ms. Duffy also served as interim Chief Financial Officer. She assumed her current position as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in June 2014. Prior to joining Viasat, Ms. Duffy was a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young, LLP, serving the technology and consumer product markets. Ms. Duffy is a certified public accountant in the State of California, and earned a B.S.B.A. degree in Accounting from San Diego State University.
K. Guru Gowrappan joined Viasat in April 2023 as President. Mr. Gowrappan is a co-founder of Bali Venture Partners, a privately held company that invests in early and growth stage enterprises. From October 2018 until September 2021, Mr. Gowrappan served as Chief Executive Officer of Verizon Media Group, the media division of Verizon Communications, Inc., a telecommunications company. He joined Verizon in April 2018 as President and Chief Operating Officer of Oath, Inc. From 2015 until joining Verizon in 2018, he held the position of Global Managing Director at the Alibaba Group, a multinational e-commerce company. Previously, Mr. Gowrappan served as Chief Operating Officer at Quixey, a mobile technology company, and Chief Operating Officer for Growth and Emerging Initiatives at Zynga Inc., a video game developer. Mr. Gowrappan currently serves on the boards of Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE: BK) and Water.org, a global nonprofit focused on access to safe water and sanitation. Mr. Gowrappan earned an M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California and completed the Business Bridge Program with the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Madras in Chennai, India.
Kevin Harkenrider joined Viasat in October 2006 as Director — Operations, served as Vice President — Operations from January 2007 until December 2009, served as Vice President of Viasat and Chief Operating Officer of Viasat Communications Inc. from December 2009 to April 2011, as Senior Vice President — Infrastructure Operations from April 2011 to May 2012, as Senior Vice President — Broadband Services from May 2012 to May 2015, as Senior Vice President — Commercial Networks from May 2015 to May 2018, as Senior Vice President and President, Broadband Systems from May 2018 until March 2020, as Executive Vice President — Global Operations and Chief Operations Officer from March 2020 until November 2021 and as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since November 2021. In August 2023, Mr. Harkenrider was also appointed to the role of Chief Corporate Officer. Prior to joining Viasat, Mr. Harkenrider served as Account Executive at Computer Sciences Corporation from 2002 through October 2006. From 1992 to 2001, Mr. Harkenrider held several positions at BAE Systems, Mission Solutions (formerly GDE Systems, Marconi Integrated Systems and General Dynamics Corporation, Electronics Division), including Vice President and Program Director, Vice President — Operations and Vice President — Material. Prior to 1992, Mr. Harkenrider served in several director and program manager positions at General Dynamics Corporation. Mr. Harkenrider holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Union College and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
Craig Miller joined Viasat in 1995 and has held numerous technology, business and strategic leadership roles. In January 2015, Mr. Miller was appointed Chief Technology Officer — Government Systems. In May 2021, he was appointed President, Government Systems, and in August 2023, he was appointed President — Global Space Networks. Mr. Miller holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona.
Mark Milleris a founder of Viasat and served as Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of Viasat from March 1993 to June 2014, when he assumed his current position as Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer. From 1986 through 1993, Mr. Miller served as Engineering Manager. Prior to joining Viasat, Mr. Miller was a Staff Engineer at M/A-COM Linkabit from 1983 to 1986. Mr. Miller holds a B.S.E.E. degree from the University of California, San Diego and an M.S.E.E. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Krishna Nathan joined Viasat in September 2019 as its Chief Information Officer. Mr. Nathan previously held senior leadership roles at S&P Global, a financial information and analytics company, and IBM, a technology company. Mr. Nathan holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University, an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from M.I.T. and a Ph.D. degree in Engineering from Brown University.
Ben Palmerhas served as the President of Viasat Maritime since August 2023, and previously served as the President of Inmarsat Maritime since November 2021. Mr. Palmer previously held various roles at Northrop Grumman, including Group Managing Director, Mission Systems Europe, from February 2019 to November 2021 and European Strategy and Business Development Director from May 2014 to February 2019. Prior to Northrop Grumman, he also held leadership positions at AlixPartners, a consulting firm, and BAE Systems, an aerospace and defense company. Mr. Palmer holds a B.A. degree from the University of Oxford and an MS degree from the London Business School.
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.