TacticScaleWhat Viasat Does & How It Makes Money (VSAT)
Updated October 2026 · reflects Viasat's latest reported financials
Satellite broadband and defense communications technology company. It earns recurring service revenue from satellite broadband, in-flight connectivity and L-band services, and also sells hardware, space systems and security products to government and commercial customers.
How Viasat makes money
It earns recurring service revenue from satellite broadband, in-flight connectivity and L-band services, and also sells hardware, space systems and security products to government and commercial customers. It additionally licenses intellectual property.
What Viasat does
Viasat, Inc., headquartered in Carlsbad, California and founded in 1986, runs two segments: Communication Services and Defense and Advanced Technologies. Communication Services covers fixed and mobile satellite broadband, in-flight connectivity for aviation, safety operational data, enterprise and IoT connectivity, and L-band managed, energy and prepaid internet services. The Defense and Advanced Technologies segment serves military and government customers with tactical and beyond-line-of-sight communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, encryption and cybersecurity products, and terminals for aircraft, drones, vessels, vehicles and manpacks. Viasat also designs GEO, MEO and LEO satellites, payloads and antennas, works on multi-orbit, sovereign and direct-to-device solutions, and licenses intellectual property.
Products & services
- Satellite broadband internet
- In-flight connectivity
- L-band communications services
- High assurance IP encryption
- MOJO expeditionary tactical gateway
- GEO/MEO/LEO satellites and payloads
What is Viasat worth?
On an owner-earnings DCF, Viasat's most-likely value is about $43 versus a recent price near $72 (40% above fair value). But TacticScale only calls a stock undervalued when the price sits below its conservative no-growth floor (~$28) with a margin of safety — so the honest verdict here is “Fairly priced — no edge.” Fair value earns its keep only at the extremes, not in the wide middle.
Price sits in the normal range — fair value isn't actionable here; it earns its keep only when price drops below the no-growth floor, or runs to roughly double the optimistic case.
⚠ High leverage — net debt is 8.9× annual cash flow. Net debt is subtracted from this fair value, but refinancing at higher rates, principal timing, and share dilution aren’t modeled — the equity can be worth far less if cash flow weakens.
Analysis, not advice. Fair value is a margin-of-safety estimate from a deterministic owner-earnings DCF, not a price target or recommendation. See the full breakdown →
Related companies
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