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 (+8818) 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 (such as areas of the South Pacific and the polar regions) 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 (released in 2006) 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 (approximately 60ms). 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.
First-generation satellite problems According to documents filed with the
SEC on January 30, 2007, Globalstar's previously identified problems with its
S-band amplifiers used on its satellites for two-way communications are occurring at a higher rate than expected, possibly eventually leading to reduced levels of two-way voice and duplex data service in 2008. The company's simplex data services used to support the asset tracking products as well as the SPOT Satellite Messenger are not affected by the S-band satellite issue mentioned above. Globalstar also launched eight ground spare satellites in 2007 to help reduce the impact of the issue. In the filing, Globalstar made the following statements: Industry analysts speculate the problem is caused by radiation exposure the satellites receive when they pass through the
South Atlantic Anomaly in their 876-mile (1414 km) altitude orbits. The S-band antenna amplifier degradation does not affect adversely the Company's one-way "Simplex" data transmission services, which utilize only the L-band uplink from a subscriber's "Simplex" terminal to the satellites. The Company is working on plans, including new products and services and pricing programs, and exploring the feasibility of accelerating procurement and launch of its second-generation satellite constellation, to attempt to reduce the effects of this problem upon its customers and operations. The Company will be able to forecast the duration of service coverage at any particular location in its service area and intends to make this information available without charge to its service providers, including its wholly owned operating subsidiaries, so that they may work with their subscribers to reduce the impact of the degradation in service quality in their respective service areas. The Company is also reviewing its business plan in light of these developments. In August 2008, Thales Alenia Space began production assembly, integration, and testing of the second-generation flight model satellites, in its
Rome factory, for launch as early as Q3 2009. In July 2009, Globalstar, Inc. announced that it has received complete financing for its second-generation satellite constellation and signed an amendment to the initial contract, specifying in particular, the adjusted conditions for production and the new satellite delivery timetable. The first six second-generation satellites were launched on October 19, 2010, from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch used a
Soyuz-2 launch vehicle with a
Fregat upper stage. These second-generation satellites are expected to provide Globalstar customers with satellite voice and data services until at least 2025. Six more second-generation satellites were launched in July 2011 followed by another six satellites in December 2011. The launch of the second-generation constellation was completed on February 6, 2013, with the launch of the final six satellites using a Soyuz 2-1a launch vehicle. The 24 second-generation spacecraft weighed approximately each at launch, and are
3-axis stabilized. In February 2022, it was announced that Globalstar purchased 17 new satellites to continue its constellation built by
MDA and
Rocket Lab for $327 million. The satellites are expected to be launched by 2025. On June 19, 2022, a backup satellite for Globalstar was launched on a
Falcon 9 rocket. This was the first Globalstar satellite to launch in over 9 years. Prior to the launch, Globalstar did not announce the mission, besides a vague quarterly report stating the satellite would launch. == Business operations ==