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Gilat makes satellite-powered internet equipment and services that connect planes, ships, remote communities, and military teams where regular networks can't reach.
Gilat Satellite Networks is the company that quietly keeps people connected in places where the internet normally gives up. It builds the ground equipment — the antennas and modems that talk to satellites — and sells broadband service over those satellites, mainly to airlines wanting Wi-Fi on planes, ships at sea, cellular operators extending coverage to rural areas, and defense and government customers. In short, it sells the gear and service that let a satellite in space become a working internet connection on the ground.
The business splits into two main parts. One is selling the hardware: satellite terminals, antennas, and network equipment, both to telecom operators who build out coverage and to companies that need connectivity for their own use. The other is selling actual broadband service and managing networks for customers like airlines and mobile carriers. Hardware sales bring in big payments at the time of the deal but swing with project timing; recurring service revenue is steadier and is the part investors value more. Gilat's customers pick it largely because it has done this for decades, works across many satellite systems, and sells the full package rather than just a box. The most interesting growth area is in-flight Wi-Fi. Gilat's SkyEdge platform and its work with satellite operators let airlines offer passengers real internet at 35,000 feet, a market where demand keeps climbing. It also serves cellular operators through a business some call "rural coverage as a service," filling the gaps where building cell towers makes no financial sense. Competition is tough: rivals like Comtech, Hughes, and Viasat sell similar ground equipment, and low-Earth-orbit satellite players are reshaping what's technically possible, so Gilat must keep its gear compatible with new constellations or risk becoming a relic. Gilat is a modest-sized company by revenue, and its profits have historically been thin and bumpy — satellite hardware is a cyclical, project-driven business with lumpy deals. That makes execution and cost control the whole story. Watching whether its higher-margin service and in-flight segments grow faster than the lumpy equipment side is the real test of whether this is a sturdy business or just a clever niche.
Saved answer · last researched 22 Oct 2026
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