Satellite Connectivity for Drones Moves Closer to Commercial Scale
A fresh pact is pushing forward the commercial infrastructure necessary to handle satellite communications for drones and advanced air mobility.
Galaxy 1 Communications and Viasat have unveiled a new deal to broaden commercial backing for Viasat’s Velaris satellite communications platform. This partnership builds on two years of collaborative development, integration, and testing.
The joint service platform will transition into commercial production. The objective is to simplify the deployment and management of satellite connectivity as uncrewed aircraft operations expand.
Announced on November 2, 2026, the deal targets the systems required to scale commercial services. Key components include customer onboarding, billing, network management, and integration with third-party applications.
Supporting Satellite Connectivity for Drone Operations
Viasat’s Velaris platform delivers satellite communications for autonomous aircraft and advanced air mobility (AAM). It leverages Viasat’s L-band satellite network to ensure connectivity for aircraft operating in various environments.
Use cases span drone delivery, medical logistics, emergency response, industrial inspections, and future air taxi services.
Satellite connectivity is vital where terrestrial networks lack coverage. It also offers an extra communication option for aircraft flying over large or remote areas. Yet, scaling satellite-enabled drone services needs more than just coverage. Operators and providers must also have systems to activate equipment, monitor connections, manage customers, and fix service issues.
The Galaxy 1 agreement tackles these operational and commercial needs.
Moving From Development to Commercial Production
Galaxy 1 will supply the systems that enable the commercial delivery of Velaris services under the agreement.
The company will handle customer onboarding, service activation, billing, and reporting. Additionally, Galaxy 1 will provide network infrastructure and remote terminal management via its RTM platform.
Service providers can use the platform to monitor and configure connected equipment, manage incidents, and restore services during outages.
Application programming interfaces (APIs) will facilitate integration with third-party drone applications and partner systems. This strategy aims to minimize the effort needed to onboard new customers and add services.
Martyn Durrant, Chief Commercial Officer at Galaxy 1 Communications, said:
"Moving into production is an important milestone and a strong validation of the platform we have developed with Viasat over the past two years. Our objective was never simply to provide satellite connectivity, but to establish the operational and commercial infrastructure needed to support a scalable UAV and Advanced Air Mobility ecosystem. This agreement demonstrates the value of that approach and provides an exciting foundation for the next phase of growth."
Building a Commercial Ecosystem for Advanced Aviation
The deal addresses a wider challenge for the commercial drone industry: transitioning from isolated technology demos to services that support numerous operators and aircraft.
Viasat’s Velaris ecosystem comprises aircraft manufacturers, operators, communications providers, and technology partners. As this network expands, the companies seek to provide a unified framework for delivering and managing satellite-enabled services.
Sandeep Moorthy, Senior Vice President and GM, Advanced NTN Solutions, New Ventures at Viasat, said:
"Viasat is at the center of a growing ecosystem that is helping shape the future of next-generation uncrewed connectivity services. As Velaris expands, partners need scalable frameworks to deploy, manage, and scale efficiently. This collaboration is an important part of that capability, strengthening the partner network and accelerating services worldwide."
The announcement signals a move from testing the joint platform to supporting commercial service delivery. It does not specify new aircraft deployments, customer contracts, or service launch dates.
For the broader drone industry, the agreement underscores the importance of infrastructure supporting connected aircraft. While reliable communications are crucial, commercial growth also relies on systems that simplify service operation and management.
By expanding commercial support through Velaris, Viasat and Galaxy 1 aim to help partners launch satellite-enabled drone services at a larger scale.