[4] The company is governed by a seven-member board of directors[5] with Ivan Seidenberg as Chairman and Doug Smith as president and CEO.

The decision came after letters from the Department of Defense and members of Congress suggested that the company using spectrum would interfere with military capabilities.

Referencing the COVID-19 pandemic, Chairman Sen. James Inhofe charged FCC, stating "a few powerful people made a hasty decision over the weekend, in the middle of a national crisis, against the judgment of every other agency involved".

[20][21][22][23][24] In June 2020, Sen. Inhofe proposed legislation requiring Ligado to be liable for costs associated with their impact to GPS reception for any user of the service.

[28] The Keep GPS Working Coalition was created in late June, representing a broad range of industries including the Boat Owners Association, AOPA, AFBF, and others.

[29][30] On October 13, 2023, Ligado announced that it would be preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in eleven years after government talks over a multibillion-dollar claim asserted by the company collapsed and fell through.

[13] That changed in 2004 when the FCC granted approval for the company to augment its satellite network with cellphone towers on land (serving as an "ancillary terrestrial component," or ATC).

"[48] In 2011, LightSquared's plan for standalone-terrestrial broadband services met resistance over potential interference issues with GPS systems.

In a January 12, 2011, letter to the FCC, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) chief Lawrence Strickling said that LightSquared's hybrid mobile broadband services raise "significant interference concerns" and that several federal agencies wanted the FCC to defer action on LightSquared until the concerns were addressed.

[50] Testing showed that LightSquared's proposed ground-based transmissions could "overpower" the fainter GPS signals from space-based satellites.

[51] On January 26, 2011, The Federal Communications Commission granted a conditional waiver that allowed LightSquared and its wholesale customers to offer terrestrial-only devices rather than having to incorporate both satellite and terrestrial services.

LightSquared promised to work with GPS providers and give the FCC monthly updates on a resolution to interference concerns.

[57] On February 14, 2012, the FCC initiated proceedings to vacate LightSquared's Conditional Waiver Order based on the NTIA's conclusion that there was currently no practical way to mitigate potential GPS interference.

[60][61] An Air Force General claimed in a closed congressional hearing that he had received political pressure to soften his testimony regarding the negative effects of LightSquared technology.

[64] Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a ranking minority member on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, had also asked Falcone and LightSquared's CEO to disclose their contacts with the FCC, the White House and other government agencies.