Globalstar


Globalstar, Inc. is an American telecommunications company that operates a satellite constellation in low Earth orbit for satellite phone, low-speed data transmission and Earth observation. The Globalstar second-generation constellation consists of 25 satellites.

History

The Globalstar project was launched in 1991 as a joint venture of Loral Corporation and Qualcomm. On March 24, 1994, the two sponsors announced the formation of Globalstar LP, a limited partnership established in the U.S., with financial participation from eight other companies, including Alcatel, AirTouch, Deutsche Aerospace, Hyundai, and Vodafone. At that time, the company predicted the system would launch in 1998, based on an investment of $1.8 billion.
Globalstar said in March 1994 that it expected to charge $0.65 per minute for cellular service, compared to $3 per minute from Iridium. By then it had a worldwide license from the World Administrative Radio Conference. Globalstar received its US spectrum allocation from the FCC in January 1995, and continued to negotiate with other nations for rights to use the same radio frequencies in their countries.
The first satellites were launched in February 1998, but system deployment was delayed due to a launch failure in September 1998 that resulted in the loss of 12 satellites in a launch by the Russian Space Agency.
The first call on the original Globalstar system was placed on November 1, 1998, from Qualcomm chairman Irwin Jacobs in San Diego to Loral Space & Communications CEO and chairman Bernard Schwartz in New York City.
In October 1999, the system began "friendly user" trials with 44 of 48 planned satellites. In December 1999, the system began limited commercial service for 200 users with the full 48 satellites. In February 2000, it began full commercial service with its 48 satellites and 4 spares in North America, Europe, and Brazil. Another eight satellites were maintained as ground spares. Initial prices were $1.79/minute for satellite phone calls.
Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Irwin Jacobs had his private jet re-classified as an experimental aircraft for the purpose of developing an aviation application of Globalstar. The experimental system not only provided voice and data services to the cockpit and passenger cabin, but also tied in with the aircraft's data bus and provided GPS location service. Ground monitoring of aircraft location, heading, speed, and mechanical parameters such as oil pressure and engine RPM were demonstrated. Video surveillance of the cockpit and cabin were also demonstrated. To work around Globalstar's low data rate, the experimental system used multiple user terminals in parallel. Each UT could be configured for voice, or as a member of a bonded link group for internet access.
On February 15, 2002, the predecessor company Globalstar and three of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
In 2004, restructuring of the old Globalstar was completed. The first stage of the restructuring was completed on December 5, 2003, when Thermo Capital Partners LLC was deemed to obtain operational control of the business, as well as certain ownership rights and risks. Thermo Capital Partners became the principal owner.
Globalstar LLC was formed as a Delaware limited liability company in November 2003 and was converted into Globalstar, Inc., on March 17, 2006.
In 2007, Globalstar launched eight additional first-generation spare satellites into space to help compensate for the premature failure of their in-orbit satellites. Between 2010 and 2013, Globalstar launched 24 second-generation satellites in an effort to restore their system to full service.
Between 2010 and 2011, Globalstar moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Covington, Louisiana in part to take advantage of the state's tax breaks and low cost of living.
In April 2018, Globalstar announced it would merge with FiberLight in a deal valued at $1.65 billion. That deal was called off in August 2018 following a lawsuit from Globalstar's largest investor, Mudrick Capital Management.
In March 2020, Globalstar announced that the Third Generation Partnership Project had approved the 5G variant of Globalstar's Band 53, to become known as n53.
On March 6, 2021, Globalstar announced to customers that the Sat-Fi2 and Sat-Fi2 RAS services would be discontinued as of March 12, 2021.
On September 7, 2022, Apple announced a cooperation with Globalstar Inc that "would allow iPhone 14 users to send emergency messages" via satellite, starting in the U.S. and Canada. Apple would go on to release the feature on future iPhone models.
On October 29th 2024, Globalstar disclosed in an SEC filing that Apple had agreed to purchase a 20% stake in the company.

Products and services

Globalstar is a provider of satellite and terrestrial connectivity services. Globalstar offers these services to commercial and recreational users in more than 120 countries around the world.
Globalstar's terrestrial spectrum, Band 53 and its 5G variant n53 offers carriers, cable companies and system integrators a versatile, fully licensed channel for private networks, while Globalstar's XCOMP technology offers capacity gains in dense wireless deployments.
The company's products include simplex and duplex satellite devices, data modems, and satellite airtime packages.
Many land-based and maritime industries make use of the various Globalstar products and services from remote areas beyond the reach of cellular and landline telephone services. However, many areas of the Earth's surface are left without service coverage, since a satellite requires being in range of an Earth station gateway.
Global customer segments include oil and gas, government, mining, forestry, commercial fishing, utilities, military, transportation, heavy construction, emergency preparedness, and business continuity as well as individual recreational users.
Globalstar data communication services are used for a variety of asset and personal tracking, data monitoring, and SCADA applications.

Satellite messengers

In late 2007, Globalstar subsidiary SPOT LLC launched a handheld satellite messaging and tracking personal safety device known as the SPOT Satellite Messenger. SPOT X, a two-way satellite messenger with GPS location tracking, navigational capabilities, social media linking and direct communication options to emergency services, was launched in 2018.

Simplex data modems

  • Globalstar STINGR
  • Globalstar STX2
  • Globalstar STX3
  • Globalstar ST100
  • Globalstar SmartOne C
  • Globalstar SmartOne Solar

    Duplex data modems

  • SPOT Trace
  • SPOT Gen4
  • SPOT X

    Duplex voice/data modules

  • Globalstar GSP-1620
  • Globalstar GSP-1720

    Services

  • Voice telephony
  • One-way mobile terminated SMS text messaging
  • 9,600 bit/s circuit switched data calls
  • 9,600 bit/s packet switched Internet access
  • One-way mobile originated short-burst messages
  • Two-way mobile originated / mobile terminated short-burst messages
  • Device geolocation within approximately 30 km

    Discontinued products and services

  • Sat-Fi2 and Sat-Fi2 RAS
  • 72 kbit/s packet switched Internet access
  • Globalstar GSP-1620
  • Globalstar GSP-1720

    System architecture

Gateways

Globalstar satellites are simple "bent pipe" analog repeaters, unlike Iridium.
A network of ground gateway stations provides connectivity from the 40 satellites to the public switched telephone network and Internet. A satellite must have a Gateway station in view to provide service to any users. Twenty four Globalstar Gateways are located around the world, including seven in North America. Globalstar Gateways are the largest cellular base station in the world with a design capacity for over 10,000 concurrent phone calls over a coverage area that is roughly 50% of the size of the US. Globalstar supports CDMA technology such as the rake receiver and soft handoffs, so a handset may be talking via two spot beams to two Gateways for path diversity.
Globalstar users are assigned telephone numbers on the North American Numbering Plan in North America or the appropriate telephone numbering plan for the country that the overseas gateway is located in, except for Brazil, where the official Globalstar country code is used. The use of gateway ground stations provides customers with localized regional phone numbers for their satellite handsets. But service cannot be provided in remote areas if there are no gateway stations to cover the area. As of May 2012, voice and full-duplex data services are currently non-functional over much of Africa, the South Asian subcontinent, and most mid-ocean regions due to the lack of nearby gateway earth stations.
The Globalstar system uses the Qualcomm CDMA air interface; however, the Ericsson and Telit phones accept standard GSM SIM cards, while the Qualcomm GSP-1600/1700 phones do not have a SIM card interface, but use CDMA/IS-41 based authentication. Therefore, the Globalstar gateways need to support both the CDMA/IS-41 and the GSM standards.
Globalstar has roaming agreements with local cellular operators in some regions, enabling the use of a single phone number in satellite and cellular mode on multi-mode Globalstar handsets. These cellular roaming agreements are not in place in North America. Because of improvements in cellular phones and networks and the limitations inherent to satellite phones, the newest Globalstar handset does not include cellular connectivity as Globalstar does not expect subscribers to carry it as their only mobile phone.

First generation satellites

Globalstar orbits have an inclination of 52 degrees. Therefore, Globalstar does not cover polar areas, due to the lower orbital inclination.
Globalstar orbits have an orbital height of approximately 1400 km and latency is still relatively low.
A Globalstar satellite has two body-mounted, Earth-facing arrays. First-generation Globalstars weigh approximately 550 kg. However, the second-generation Globalstar design will gain significant mass.
In 2005, some of the satellites began to reach the limit of their operational lifetime of 7.5 years. In December 2005, Globalstar began to move some of its satellites into a graveyard orbit above LEO.