Starlink has wiped out 83% of Viasat's US subscribers. Table of Contents Six years after SpaceX opened Starlink to the public, the competitive damage to legacy satellite internet providers is no longer a projection - it's a quarterly earnings line. Viasat, once the dominant name in US fixed satellite broadband, has shed 83% of its domestic subscriber base since Starlink's beta launch in fall 2020, according to the company's own reported figures. Elon Musk confirmed the data with a two-word post on X: 'It's true.' The numbers behind the collapse. Viasat's Q3 CY2026 earnings, reported on November 5, paint a stark picture. The company now counts approximately 100,000 fixed broadband subscribers in the US - down from 603,000 in September 2020, just before Starlink began its public beta. That's a loss of more than half a million customers in roughly six years. | Metric | Q3 2020 | Q3 2026 | Change | | Viasat US Fixed Broadband Subscribers | 603,000 | 100,000 | −83% | | Starlink Global Consumer Subscribers | ~0 (pre-launch) | 13.6 million | New market | | Starlink New Consumer Subscribers (Q3 2026 alone) | - | +1.6 million | Single quarter | To put the scale in perspective: Starlink added 1.6 million new global subscribers in Q3 2026 alone - sixteen times the total number of customers Viasat still has in its entire US fixed broadband business. Viasat's Communication Services revenue, which includes fixed broadband, also fell 3% year-over-year in the same quarter, according to the earnings report. Viasat's explanation - and why it doesn't fully hold up. On its earnings call, Viasat attributed part of the Q3 decline to 'seasonally high churn' during the summer months. That's a standard industry explanation for elevated cancellations - people moving, ending contracts, and so on. But seasonal churn doesn't account for losing 83% of a subscriber base over six years. The trajectory has been consistent and directional, not cyclical. Viasat does have a technical response in the market. Its new ViaSat-3 Flight 2 satellite entered service over the Americas in early October 2026 and is designed to deliver download speeds exceeding 100Mbps, according to company disclosures. That's a meaningful upgrade over older geostationary hardware. The catch: geostationary orbit means latency will remain significantly higher than Starlink's low-earth-orbit constellation - a gap that matters enormously for video calls, gaming, and real-time applications that rural broadband customers increasingly expect. What this signals for the broader satellite internet market. Viasat's decline isn't just a competitive loss story - it's a case study in what happens when a technology architecture becomes obsolete while a market is still growing. Rural and remote broadband demand hasn't shrunk; it's expanded. Starlink captured essentially all of that growth while simultaneously pulling existing customers away from legacy providers. The 13.6 million global subscriber figure, reported as of September 30, 2026, reflects a service that has moved well beyond its original niche of remote farms and off-grid cabins. Starlink now competes in RV parks, maritime vessels, aviation, and enterprise connectivity - markets Viasat also serves, meaning the pressure extends beyond just residential broadband. For SpaceX, the Viasat data point is useful validation ahead of any future financing rounds or a potential Starlink IPO. A competitor losing 83% of its domestic base in the same timeframe Starlink scaled to 13.6 million subscribers is the kind of market-share evidence that speaks clearly to institutional investors. Viasat still operates a significant defense and government communications business, which provides revenue stability that pure consumer ISPs don't have. But in the residential fixed broadband segment - the one Starlink targeted first - the competitive outcome is increasingly settled. The question now is whether ViaSat-3 Flight 2's speed improvements can slow the attrition, or whether the latency disadvantage makes the gap structurally unbridgeable. Sources & reporting notes The links below identify the material source records used for this report. * @elonmusk on X (2026-11-06T21:27:33.000Z) - Direct source * @SawyerMerritt on X (2026-11-06T21:38:43.000Z) - Direct source Source links are preserved as published or accessed. See its editorial standards and corrections policy. BASENOR Newsroom The BASENOR Editorial Desk covers Tesla, SpaceX, and related technology, curating reporting from primary sources - official accounts, regulatory filings, and software release data. Every article passes source-record and fact-checking review before publication. About the newsroom. This report was curated by the BASENOR Editorial Desk from the sources listed above. Read its editorial standards or email [email protected] to report an error. Stay in the Loop Join 27,000+ Tesla owners who get its tips first - plus 10% OFF

Viasat Q2 earnings call highlights. November 6, 2026 Key points. * Q2 revenue rose 3% to $1.2 billion, with Defense and Advanced Technologies revenue up 20% offsetting a 3% decline in Communication Services. Adjusted EBITDA fell 4% to $370 million, while free cash flow increased 14% to $78 million. * Viasat expects fiscal 2027 adjusted EBITDA to be roughly flat year over year, with more than $225 million in free cash flow and $850 million to $900 million in capital expenditures. It forecasts mid-single-digit total revenue growth, including mid-to-high-teens growth in Defense and Advanced Technologies. * Commercial aviation revenue is expected to decline in fiscal 2028; customer announcements are expected to affect 15% to 20% of aviation revenue over time, though not abruptly. Viasat said it is assessing the outlook and potential cost mitigation. * Five stocks to consider instead of Viasat. Viasat NASDAQ: VSAT reported fiscal second-quarter revenue growth driven by its defense business, but said commercial aviation revenue is expected to decline in fiscal 2028 as customer announcements affect part of its business over time. The satellite communications company also said it now expects fiscal 2027 adjusted EBITDA to be approximately flat year over year, while forecasting more than $225 million in free cash flow and capital expenditures of $850 million to $900 million. Chief Financial Officer Gary Chase said Communication Services faced near-term pressure, even as momentum accelerated in Defense and Advanced Technologies, or DAT. The company continues to expect total fiscal-year revenue growth in the mid-single digits. Defense growth offsets communications weakness. Second-quarter revenue rose 3% from a year earlier to $1.2 billion. DAT revenue increased 20% to $365 million, while Communication Services revenue fell 3% to $815 million. Viasat reported a net loss of $129 million, a $68 million decline from the prior-year result. Chase attributed the change primarily to a higher income tax provision, increased research and development spending and higher stock-based compensation expense. Adjusted EBITDA fell 4% to $370 million. Free cash flow increased 14% to $78 million, with operating cash flow of $285 million and capital expenditures of $207 million. Net debt relative to trailing adjusted EBITDA was approximately 3.2 times, an improvement of 0.3 times from a year earlier. Companywide awards totaled about $1.1 billion, down 24% from a year earlier, when the figure included a $234 million SouthPAN award. Backlog rose 7% to $4.2 billion, led by 20% growth in DAT backlog. DAT adjusted EBITDA climbed 57% to $76 million. Tactical networking revenue rose 31%, while InfoSec and cyber product revenue grew 27%. CEO and Chairman Mark Dankberg said the company expects about $2 billion in DAT awards for the full fiscal year, compared with $1.6 billion last year. Aviation outlook reflects customer announcements. Communication Services results reflected growth in aviation and government satellite communications, offset by declines in maritime and residential fixed broadband. Discover more Stock research tools Financial portfolio tracker Aviation revenue increased 8% in the quarter. Viasat ended the period with approximately 4,490 commercial aircraft in service, up 6% year over year but down slightly from the previous quarter. Average revenue per aircraft increased 3% from a year earlier. Chase said the company expects aviation revenue to decline in fiscal 2028 from fiscal 2027 levels and is evaluating the trajectory and potential cost mitigation. In response to an analyst's question, he said customer announcements would ultimately affect 15% to 20% of aviation revenue, but that the impact was not expected to be abrupt. Viasat ended the quarter with an in-flight connectivity backlog of about 660 commercial aircraft, after installations and removals based on recent customer announcements. Chase said the company expects continued installations and awards in the second half of fiscal 2027, although it also expects slight sequential declines in aircraft counts. Maritime revenue fell 8% as vessels in service declined. Viasat ended the quarter with 1,990 NexusWave vessels in service and an outstanding order book exceeding 1,500 vessels. Fixed services and other revenue dropped 23%, as U.S. fixed broadband subscribers continued to decline during the summer. The company ended the quarter with 100,000 subscribers. ViaSat-3 enters service as spending eases. Dankberg said both ViaSat-3 flights two and three are in service and performing as expected. The company is adding ground-network capacity and migrating more terminals to the satellites, he said. Following the residential service launch of ViaSat-3 Flight 2 in early October, Viasat began targeted plans to use its improved performance to stabilize the fixed broadband business over the next few quarters, Chase said. Dankberg cautioned that the U.S. residential market remains competitive and volatile. Management said the company is shifting from infrastructure construction toward monetization and cash generation. Its fiscal 2027 capital expenditure forecast includes $75 million for ViaSat-3, most of which was incurred in the first quarter. For the full year, Viasat expects Communication Services revenue to be roughly flat and DAT revenue to grow in the mid-to-high teens. Chase said the company expects stronger DAT revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow in the second half as awards and backlog convert into sales. Strategic review and Equatys plans continue. Dankberg confirmed that Viasat's strategic review remains active. He said the company is evaluating a variety of options to create shareholder value and that the review committee's role has not changed. The company is also pursuing mobile satellite opportunities through Equatys, a planned shared network infrastructure company that Viasat and Space42 agreed to establish in September. Dankberg said Equatys still needs regulatory approvals and that the company would disclose more about its technical solution and service schedule after key milestones are reached. Dankberg said potential participants could subscribe to capacity, trade capacity from their own satellites or invest in Equatys. He did not provide a timetable for announcing additional partners or launching satellites. About Viasat (NASDAQ:VSAT). Viasat, Inc is a communications technology company that provides satellite-based connectivity and related services to commercial, government and consumer customers. The company's offerings include high-speed broadband, satellite communications, network services and connectivity solutions designed for locations where terrestrial networks may be limited or unavailable. Viasat serves the aviation, maritime, residential broadband, enterprise and government markets. Its services support in-flight internet for commercial and business aircraft, connectivity for ships and offshore operations, broadband access for homes and communities, and secure communications for government and defense customers. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. 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Galaxy 1 and Viasat move UAV connectivity platform into commercial production. Galaxy 1 Communications and Viasat have agreed to move their jointly developed support platform for uncrewed aircraft services into commercial production, following two years of development, integration and testing. The agreement will extend Viasat's Velaris satellite communications ecosystem, which provides connectivity and operational services for uncrewed and autonomous aviation. The platform uses Viasat's L-band satellite network to support applications including logistics and medical delivery aircraft, air taxis and inspection platforms operating in remote locations. Under the agreement, Galaxy 1 will provide the operational and commercial infrastructure intended to help Viasat's partners deploy and manage satellite-enabled services at scale. Its responsibilities will include partner onboarding, service provisioning, billing and reporting, as well as network infrastructure and remote terminal management. The platform will also support the activation, monitoring and configuration of uncrewed aircraft services, alongside incident management and service restoration. Application programming interfaces (APIs) will allow integration with third-party UAV applications and partner systems, while automation tools are intended to improve operational visibility and manage equipment throughout its lifecycle. The companies said the two-year development programme had validated the operational and commercial capabilities needed for production service delivery. The transition is intended to provide a framework for expanding Velaris beyond basic satellite connectivity, giving aircraft manufacturers, operators and service providers a more integrated way to manage services. Viasat has been developing Velaris as a partner ecosystem involving aircraft manufacturers, operators, technology providers and other service companies. The platform is aimed at addressing the connectivity and operational requirements of emerging uncrewed aviation markets, particularly where aircraft operate beyond the reach of conventional terrestrial networks. Galaxy 1 chief commercial officer Martyn Durrant said the production agreement marked a step towards establishing the commercial and operational infrastructure needed for a scalable UAV and advanced air mobility sector. Thomas Sleightholm Thomas is a content writer for eVTOL Insights, covering all aspects of the global Advanced Air Mobility ecosystem. Got a story for him? Please send an email to [email protected]