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Globalstar Opens 90-Day Launch Window for Second-Generation Satellites

 

 

Jul 6, 2010

 

Globalstar, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!gsat/quotes/nls/gsat announced the opening of a 90-day launch window for the inaugural lift-off of six Globalstar second-generation satellites. This marks the first in a series of launches Globalstar is planning to upgrade its low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. Four launches of six satellites per launch are planned with the first expected in the September or early October timeframe. The satellites will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using the highly reliable Soyuz launch vehicle, the same vehicle used to launch astronauts and cosmonauts to the international space station and to successfully launch Globalstar satellites on eight previous occasions.

 

"Today's launch operations milestone achievement further demonstrates we are on-time, on-budget and from a timeline perspective over 95-percent of the way through the process of planning, designing, manufacturing and launching the first of our new satellites," said Tony Navarra, President of Global Operations for Globalstar, Inc. "Globalstar is on schedule to become the world's first LEO global mobile satellite voice and data company to deliver and deploy a second-generation satellite constellation, giving us up to a six-year competitive advantage over our primary competitor. Once our new constellation is fully deployed we expect to see increased revenues and subscriber growth as we once again offer the highest levels of voice and data quality in the mobile satellite services industry."

 

The new satellites are designed to be fully compatible with Globalstar's current suite of first-generation mobile satellite products and services. Once the new satellites are in operational orbit, the most immediate impact will be on those Globalstar customers who use the Company's current voice and duplex data services. With each of the four launches, these customers can expect progressive improvement in reliability and overall service quality.