The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially greenlighted the proposed $7.3 billion merger between Viasat and Inmarsat. London-based Inmarsat and its U.S. rival Viasat offer various satellite services including in-flight Wi-Fi to commercial airlines. Today’s news comes some two months after the CMA revealed that it was likely to give the merger the go-ahead, around 16 months after the deal was first announced. The CMA had initially said that the merger could lead to less competition and thus pricier in-flight Wi-Fi for consumers, but it has now concluded that there is sufficient competition from newcomers in the low-Earth orbit (LEO) realm, as well as other established players, including Elon Musk-owned SpaceX which operates Starlink. Indeed, Starlink has already launched thousands of satellites inked commercial deals with airlines and network operators such as T-Mobile. “The satellite communications sector is evolving at rapid pace — new companies are entering the market, more satellites are being launched into space, and firms are exploring and entering into new commercial deals,” said the CMA inquiry group chair Richard Feasey, in a press release. …