WASHINGTON — Mobile satellite services provider Globalstar announced after Wednesday’s closing bell a proposed public offering of $125 million in shares of voting common stock.

Shares of the Covington, Louisiana company’s stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, closed Tuesday at $1.81 a share.

In a filing Wednesday evening with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Globalstar said Thermo Capital Partners LLC — which is led by Globalstar chairman and chief executive Jay Monroe — intends to buy up to $20 million in shares during the public offering. Thermo Capital is Globalstar’s controlling shareholder.

Globalstar intends to set aside 80 percent of the proceeds from the stock offering to service its debt with BPIFAE, the French export credit agency formerly known as Coface, to which the satellite operator owes $521.3 million. Coface assisted Globalstar in financing its second generation constellation of 24 low-Earth orbiting satellites, which the company built, launched and brought into service for a total investment of $1.1 billion.

Globalstar’s total debt stood at $638.4 million as of June 30. The satellite operator reported a net loss of $132.6 million on last year’s $96.9 million revenue, counting to Dec. 31, 2016, and a net loss of $72.3 million on 2015 revenue of $90.5 million.

Brian Berger is editor in chief of SpaceNews.com and the SpaceNews magazine. He joined SpaceNews.com in 1998, spending his first decade with the publication covering NASA. His reporting on the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia accident was...

Caleb Henry is a former SpaceNews staff writer covering satellites, telecom and launch. He previously worked for Via Satellite and NewSpace Global.He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science along with a minor in astronomy from...