Globalstar Signs Agreement With ADS-B Technologies

May 10 2011

Globalstar, Inc. has signed an initial agreement with ADS-B Technologies LLC (ADS-B Tech). ADS-B Tech is designing and developing a GPS satellite based air traffic management system using its proprietary ALAS™ Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, that can be used by civil aviation authorities and aircraft operators in the United States and abroad. According to the agreement, Globalstar and ADS-B Tech will work together to develop a system allowing ADS-B equipped aircraft to relay information to the ADS-B ground network and other aircraft using the Globalstar network of satellites and ground stations.

"With the deployment of its next-generation satellite constellation already started, Globalstar will be able to offer a highly reliable way to deliver our ADS-B Next-Gen air traffic management solution," said Skip Nelson, President of ADS-B Tech during the Integrated Communications Navigation and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference being held in Washington, DC. "Globalstar´s low-earth-orbit global constellation and ground network provides us with the ability to offer virtual real-time capability and an ADS-B solution that can be expanded into other global markets in the future."

"Globalstar´s unique bent-pipe space to ground station network architecture is designed to provide customers with the least latency and therefore the most compelling and reliable near real time voice and M2M satellite solutions," said Peter Dalton, CEO of Globalstar, Inc. "We expect to sign additional agreements with ADS-B Tech in the near-future in order to engineer and test a solution once we have completed deployment of our second-generation constellation."

ADS-B Tech is headquartered in Anchorage, AK. The Company introduced its ADS-B peripheral system known as the ADS-B Link Augmentation System, or ALAS at the 2010 ICNS Conference in Herndon, Va. The Patent Pending system is intended to allow aircraft to maintain non-line-of-sight air-to-ground surveillance, data, and voice communication on a world-wide basis and in real-time as a supplement to primary line-of-sight (LOS) ground-based ADS-B systems in oceanic and remote areas not covered by terrestrial ADS-B ground stations. In 2005 the United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) announced an intention to change the nation's air traffic control system from one that relies on radar technology to a system that uses precise location data from the GPS satellite network and ADS-B. Aircraft equipped with a GPS receiver and an ADS-B solution will transmit information such as GPS location, course, speed and altitude to the ADS-B ground network and other ADS-B equipped aircraft. With ADS-B, both pilots and air traffic controllers will be able to view radar-like displays of traffic data that updates on a near real time basis and does not degrade with distance or terrain. In addition to improved situational awareness for pilots, the ADS-B system is intended to provide aircraft with access to weather services and flight information services.