Image: Viasat/Equatys
Terrestar Solutions signed a non-binding deal in Ottawa on October 28 that would tie Canada’s planned CaStar satellite network to Equatys, a global direct-to-phone system co-founded by UAE SpaceTech firm Space42 and US satellite operator Viasat, adding another Canadian player to the race against Starlink‘s direct-to-cell service.
The Montreal-based company, which calls itself Canada’s only sovereign mobile-satellite operator, agreed with Space42 and Viasat on a memorandum of understanding to build an open, standards-based link between CaStar and Equatys. CaStar is Terrestar’s planned Canadian low-Earth orbit constellation. Equatys is the shared infrastructure platform Space42 and Viasat set up for direct-to-device and other advanced mobile satellite services.
Under the framework, each side would keep ownership and control of its own space and ground assets and customers. CaStar would run as a sovereign Canadian system, with Canadian gateways keeping domestic data in Canada, while interworking with Equatys worldwide. The companies call this Equatys’s first “sovereign shell” deal, pairing a global commercial network with a country-specific constellation run by a local operator.
Officials signed the MoU during the official visit of Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The announcement names no dollar figures and sets no launch dates for CaStar or the interoperability work.
Space42 and Viasat had already sealed a binding pact in September 2026 to co-found Equatys, backed by up to US$1 billion in combined equity. The new MoU does not itself commit that capital. Neither release mentions Starlink by name.
Still, the market they are chasing is the same one Starlink Mobile already leads: sending texts, calls, and data straight to ordinary phones from orbit. Ottawa has also been talking up Canadian alternatives after Carney said Canada would diversify away from Starlink, even as rival Telesat’s Arctic military constellation still needs SpaceX Falcon 9 launches through 2028.
Terrestar already connects remote parts of Canada through its Strigo mobile satellite service on the Echostar T1 satellite and holds 40 MHz of S-band spectrum. CaStar is meant to push that toward a cellular-like experience across the country, and the Equatys link would extend that reach abroad without handing control of the Canadian system to a foreign operator.
Will a non-binding MoU be enough to turn CaStar into a real direct-to-phone option for Canadians, or will Starlink Mobile stay the default?
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