Chris Forrester — For many years Rivada Space Networks has kept the market on tenterhooks regarding its plans for a 576-craft mega-constellation for its ‘Outernet’ laser-linked LEO fleet. Fresh news might be forthcoming, although nothing is congfirmed – as yet. But there are clues that something is bubbling under.
The first core problem is cash. Rivada needs a lot. The costs, in March 2022 numbers, amount to at least $2.4 billion to build the fleet. Rivada didn’t help its situation with its 2024 problems with satellite builder Terran Orbital which removed Rivada from its contracted backlog. Terran was close to going bust and was rescued in August 2024 by Lockheed Martin’s Ventures division – and at a bargain basement price.
Rivada Networks (the Space division is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rivada Networks) is backed, in part, by Peter Thiel, a German-US entrepreneur and co-founder of PayPal (with Elon Musk), Palantir Technologies and a high-profile investor in Facebook, and according to Forbes worth some $25 billion.
Rivada has continued to state that it is still working with Terran although its preliminary work has been suspended.
On December 1st 2025 Declan Ganley, CEO at Rivada, said the firm had won a long-running dispute with Chinese-backed entities over Rivada’s rights to satellite spectrum. He commented: “I received good Thanksgiving day news from my excellent legal teams in Liechtenstein and Germany.”
Rivada’s second major problem is timing. Under ITU rules, Rivada must launch 300 satellites (288+12 spares) by this Summer (144 by June, and 144 by September), and the rest must be deployed by mid-2028. Failure to meet these days places Rivada’s ITU orbital spectrum priorities at risk.
An extremely dated announcement once talked of Rivada’s deployment starting in 2024 and with global coverage by 2026.
Those commitments have clearly been missed, and – as yet – there’s no firm news on the cash. Even if money were to turn up tomorrow then Rivada would need to heavily lobby the ITU for permission to launch well after the mid-Summer 2026 dates.
But there might be signs of ‘white smoke’ from above Rivada’s Munich, Germany HQ. The first clue is that Rivada is hiring, including a Director Procurement, and VP/Procurement Management, IT Support Engineer, Ground Segment System Architect. Rivada’s Berlin office wanted a Director Spevctrum Development.
Rivada has also made no secret that it has won some valuable contracts. Just before the holiday it announced that NOW Group had signed a new deal with Rivada, as has Commercis Partners, and around a half-dozen other business (based in the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, India, Singapore and Australia) as well as a December 2024 contract with the US Navy.
Rivada puts up regular VIP speakers at industry conferences and summits, extolling the vertues of its Outernet scheme. Clemens Kaiser (Chief Program Officer) is scheduled to speak at Germany’s Handelsblatt’s Security Conference in Berlin on January 18.
But what of the clues that something is bubbling under? Senior staff hirings are one indicator.
The Christmas holiday period also saw a slew of celebratory images issued by Rivada, as well as reminders of a “New Year, New Job” invitations for the above listed hirings. The message said: “From traditional German Christmas markets to sun-soaked Hawaiian beaches, our employee merchandise has been involved with lots of festivities across the globe, showing that our team spirit spreads far and wide…just like Rivada’s Outernet where connectivity reaches everywhere with pole-to-pole coverage!”
Rivada has been busy signing up businesses, service agreements and market access licences with – it claims – a combined value more than $18 billion in connectivity.
Three months ago Rivada’s SVP/Corporate Communications said that a little more patience was needed. Just before the holiday he updated his comment, saying: “While I can’t disclose anything right now, I hope to be able to say more very soon!”
Does this imply positive news? Does Rivada now have the billions of funding needed to re-start production? And the vital question as to whether Rivada – and its licensing authorities – can pursuade the ITU to grant it some sort of postponement to its mid-Summer 2026 launch obligations?