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Rivada Space Networks aims to deliver gigabit-speed internet globally by passing the public internet and third-party infrastructure, including on the ground.

In an exclusive interview at CABSAT 2025 with Telecom Review, Mustafa Afifi, Director of Sales, Rivada Space Networks detailed the unique offerings that the company provides for critical communication traffic in close collaboration with terrestrial telcos.

At SATExpo and CABSAT 2025, Mustafa Afifi, Sales Director EMEA at Rivada Space Networks, discusses the Outernet’s power and relevance in the Middle East.

“The most important thing we’re doing is providing governments and enterprises with a truly sovereign alternative to legacy infrastructure — not just more encryption, but a physical network they can control. What we call the Outernet is a mesh of satellites with inter-satellite links and ground stations that gives entities complete command over how and where their data travels.”

As data sovereignty, infrastructure resilience and trusted communications take centre stage in the Middle East at CABSAT, CCO Ronald van der Breggen speaks about how the company’s Outernet architecture fits into the regional landscape, where it differs from consumer LEO constellations, and why it sees itself not as a competitor to terrestrial telcos, but their most resilient ally.

There’s a growing recognition that governments and large enterprises need alternative paths of connectivity, Rivada Space Networks CEO Declan Ganley says. In a recent conversation with Via Satellite, Ganley says Rivada’s “time has come” as recent undersea cable attacks in the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Taiwan highlight the need for data sovereignty and data resiliency.

This episode comes to you from SatShow’25 in Washington, D.C., where European space companies are creating a golden opportunity for their businesses and technology development. Laura Winter speaks with Declan Ganley, CEO Rivada.

Over the past few years, subsea internet cables have been disrupted multiple times, and Western governments have pointed the finger at Chinese and Russian ships. Bad news for global comms, but good news for Rivada. “If there is a targeted attack on it to take down the internet, this is the only thing on a global basis that will keep operating,” Declan Ganley, Rivada’s Chairman and CEO, told Payload.

Rivada Space Networks plans to start deploying test satellites for its projected low-Earth constellation in 2026. The initial deployment of test satellites will be followed by launches of operational satellites beginning in 2027 for Rivada’s Outernet project that aims to create a secure, laser-linked mesh network in space that does not rely on terrestrial gateways.