Ligado files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Ligado, a company that has been trying to move ahead with a high-speed broadband cellular network that aviation advocates assert has been proven to interfere with GPS, has filed for bankruptcy.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy came about after the company reached agreements with its existing creditors, who hold about 88% of the company’s debt, to convert $7.8 billion in debt into “preferred equity.”

As part of the restructuring, creditors have agreed to provide $115 million of additional financing to fund Ligado. Company officials estimate that once Ligado emerges from bankruptcy, its debt will be reduced from $8.6 billion to $1.2 billion.

According to company officials, the bankruptcy follows “large operational losses” due to the federal government’s “unlawful taking” of Ligado’s L-band spectrum license.

That license was granted in 2020 by the Federal Communications Commission, but aviation advocates and government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DoD), have come out against the approval, noting that the company’s plan to use that spectrum for cellular communications would interfere with GPS signals.

Ligado filed lawsuits in 2024 against the DoD and U.S. Department of Commerce for “seizing” its license.

In early 2025, aviation advocates and others called on the FCC to take a closer look at claims made by Ligado regarding a key mitigation to reduce the potential for interference with GPS signals.

Another part of the bankruptcy negotiations include a $113 million deal with AST SpaceMobile, which calls for that company — which is building a global cellular broadband network in space — to lease 45 MHz of Ligado’s mid-band spectrum — the same spectrum at the center of the DoD lawsuit — for use by its satellites in low Earth orbit, providing connectivity with cell phones, according to AST officials.

Meanwhile, Doug Smith, president and CEO of Ligado, said in a press release that the company will “vigorously prosecute its litigation against the U.S. government to enforce its constitutional right to just compensation for the government’s unlawful taking of Ligado’s licensed L Band spectrum.”