Liechtenstein, which has licensed the transmission frequencies for Rivada Space Networks, has cancelled its authorisation. It says Rivada hasn’t paid the annual fee, and moreover has not supplied a credible business plan.

Two days previously Rivada had announced it had secured “expansion bandwidth” from Germany, but failed to say that it had lost its priority access to the Liechtenstein frequencies.

The blow is potentially extremely damaging in that Liechtenstein can ‘re-allocate’ the ‘priority’ frequencies and would be normally considered a key asset for any operator.

Rivada, in a statement, said it was engaged in constructive talks with Liechtenstein and had appealed the cancellation. It also said the German frequencies were sufficient for their needs.

The non-payment (of a reported 5 million Swiss Francs) seems also to confirm the report in a German newspaper a week ago that Rivada had not paid some of its financial obligations and was suffering financial constraints.

Pierre Lionnet (Research & Managing Director at Eurospace) described the Rivada position as “a sad joke” on November 14. He has previously said that he doubted whether Rivada would survive.

Rivada is still obliged to meet strict ITU obligations which is to completely launch 288 satellites and have them in orbit by September 2026.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: Liechtenstein, rivada