Mobile satellite service

Most commercial voice and some data mobile satellite services are provided by systems operating in the L-band by Iridium, Inmarsat, Globalstar and Thuraya.

Another MSS service is MSV / MSAT / LightSquared / Ligado with 2 geostationary satellites serving North America.

The US Government also runs its own gateway in Hawaii for direct access to the Iridium constellation under a contract lasting at least until 2018.

In most territories, access to mobile satellite service is managed by traditional telecom companies and specialized resellers which market hardware, software and network access to end users, although occasionally some constellation operators also market service directly to end users.

In February 2024, companies focused on promoting the direct-to-device (D2D) ecosystem using L- and S-band spectrum already licensed for MSS usage formed the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA).

MSS mobile earth stations, here: satellite telephones which use the L-band