Viasat’s Ka-SAT experiencing service interruptions

Viasat’s European network is experiencing a partial outage. The issue, related to its Ka-SAT satellite, is currently affecting service for multiple fixed broadband customers across the region.

The satellite, launched and previously owned by Eutelsat, offers fixed and mobile Ka-band connectivity across Europe. Viasat established a joint venture with Eutelsat to operate and market the satellite before buying out the partnership last April.

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Multiple ISPs have reported outages since the early morning hours of 24 February. At least three have been confirmed by PaxEx.Aero; reports suggest as many as six are affected.

Viasat issued the following statement regarding the outage:

We are investigating and analyzing our European network and systems to identify the root cause and are taking additional network precautions to prevent further impacts while we attempt to recover service to affected customers. We have no further information to share at this time.

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One of the impacted ISPs, intv.cz, reported that the ground infrastructure for Ka-SAT “was attacked.” The impact initiated in Ukraine, but spread to the rest of the satellite’s coverage, according to the report.

Viasat did not validate this unconfirmed version of events, reiterating that it was still investigating the service interruption and working to restore service while protecting its network.

A French ISP reported the issue as a “general malfunction” of connections tied to the satellite.

German ISP EUSANET is also reporting issues, with an expectation of several days before service will be restored.

Update 02/26/2022 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. According to the current status, it is unfortunately to be expected that the service cannot be restored before next week. Before the satellite operator can start up the service again, all eventualities must be ruled out so that this incident does not occur again and comprehensive measures must therefore be taken, which unfortunately take their time. Unfortunately, we won’t have any further information before next week, as VIASAT is still looking for a solution.

The company also calls attention to the suspicious timing of the outage onset, “We don’t have the exact causes yet, but we can tell you that the disturbances began at about the same time as Russia invaded Ukraine.”

Aviation Okay

The impact of the outage has not spread to the company’s commercial airline mobility segment. All of its customers in the region, including SAS, EL AL, Icelandair, KLM, Neos, La Compagnie, and JetBlue, should be unaffected by the outage.