Intelsat became the latest satellite service provider to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, a move made as part of a broader financial restructure to see it through troubled waters around the release of C-band spectrum to the government.

In a statement, Intelsat said the process will likely result in a “substantial reduction” of its legacy debt burden, while delivering an estimated $1 billion in funding needed to adhere to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order to free-up a total of 280MHz of spectrum in the 3.7GHz to 4.2GHz bands for 5G services.

Intelsat said it had already secured a commitment around this financing as part of its restructure: it stands to to receive $4.87 billion in relocation payments from the FCC relating to the spectrum move.

Stephen Spengler, Intelsat CEO, said: “At the end of this process, we will be on stronger financial footing for the future, further enhancing our industry-leading portfolio of space-based communications services and paving the way for our continued innovation and investments to benefit our customers”.

Rival OneWeb sought Chapter 11 protection in late March, a move GSMA Intelligence noted raised questions around the LEO sector.