Globalstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:GSAT), a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government, and consumers, today announced it has taken delivery of three additional second-generation satellites from manufacturer Thales Alenia Space. The three new satellites are being shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan where they will join the three new satellites that were delivered in early August. All six new second-generation satellites will undergo preparations and testing for an October launch using the highly reliable Soyuz launch vehicle.
“Taking delivery of these three new satellites completes a milestone achievement for Globalstar as we can now proceed, on schedule, with preparations for next month’s inaugural second-generation satellite launch,” said Tony Navarra, President, Global Operations for Globalstar, Inc. “When our new constellation is fully deployed we will once again reliably provide the world’s finest quality mobile satellite voice and fastest mobile satellite handset data services to commercial and government customers in more than 120 countries. Combined with our affordable and award-winning suite of consumer retail SPOT products we will be uniquely positioned to offer the world’s most extensive lineup of high quality mobile satellite services to the broadest range of customers around the globe.”
A total of four launches carrying six satellites each will be conducted by launch services provider Arianespace using the Soyuz launch vehicle which has been used to successfully launch Globalstar satellites on eight previous occasions. The Company plans to integrate the 24 new second-generation satellites with the eight first-generation satellites that were launched in 2007, to form a 32 satellite constellation. The new constellation is expected to secure Globalstar’s space segment beyond 2025.
Once the six new Globalstar satellites are in operational orbit, the most immediate service improvement will benefit those customers who use the Company’s voice and Duplex data services. With each subsequent launch, these customers can expect a progressive return to the high reliability and service quality enjoyed before 2007.
Once fully deployed the advanced second-generation constellation and next-generation ground network are designed to provide Globalstar customers with enhanced services featuring increased data speeds of up to 256 kbps in a flexible Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) configuration. Products and services supported are expected to include: push-to-talk and multicasting, advanced messaging capabilities such as multimedia messaging or MMS, mobile video, geo-location services, multi-band and multi-mode handsets, and data devices with GPS integration. The second-generation satellites are also designed to support Globalstar’s current lineup of voice, Duplex and Simplex data products and services including the Company’s lineup of Spot retail consumer products.
About Globalstar, Inc.
With over 400,000 subscribers, Globalstar is the world’s largest provider of mobile satellite voice and data services. Globalstar offers these services to commercial customers and recreational consumers in more than 120 countries around the world. The Company’s products include mobile and fixed satellite telephones, simplex and duplex satellite data modems and flexible service packages. Many land based and maritime industries benefit from Globalstar with increased productivity from remote areas beyond cellular and landline service. 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 solutions are ideal for various asset and personal tracking, data monitoring and SCADA applications.
For more information regarding Globalstar, please visit the Globalstar website at www.globalstar.com.
