SpaceX has been positioned as the great giant in telecommunications satellites for many years thanks to Starlink. However, other seemingly more modest companies have been able to occupy the space left free by their weak points. One of them is Globalstar. For this reason, Amazon has set itself the goal of acquiring it as soon as possible.
The facts. According to CNA y ReutersAmazon is currently in negotiations to acquire Globalstar for $9 billion. The final transaction could be announced this week, although at the moment nothing is finalized. It would be a great step forward for the e-commerce company in terms of telecommunications, but to achieve this it will also have to reach an agreement with Apple.
Starlink vs Globalstar. Starlink currently has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit. SpaceX’s plan is to initially scale up to 12,000 satellites and, if possible, in the future to exceed 40,000. With this, it is intended that Internet access will be broader and faster, by directly connecting users with satellites located in geostationary orbit, without the need to use ground stations as intermediaries.
Globalstar has a similar goal, although it has many fewer satellites. Just a few dozen. However, Globalstar has something Starlink craves: licensed spectrum.
The VIP area of telecommunications. A licensed band in the radio spectrum is a specific range of frequencies that has been assigned by the competent authorities to a specific operator. For the duration of the license, only that company can transmit in that range. This means that interference is reduced to a minimum. There are no other satellites competing to send their signals.
Apple enters the scene. Globalstar’s licensed spectrum is a candy highly desired by any telecommunications company. One of them, without a doubt, was Apple. In 2024, the telephone giant invested $1.5 billion in Globalstar, acquiring 20% of the company. Since then they have used it, for example, to send emergency messages or to use offline maps. Given this situation, Amazon will have to negotiate directly with Apple and reach an agreement.
More satellites, but worse positioned. In reality, Amazon already has its own satellite project, called Leo. It currently has 200 satellites in low orbit and many more ready to launch when the necessary permits are obtained. However, many of those permits don’t arrive, which is why Amazon has been experiencing delays in its release schedules.
This has led the company to make the decision to join forces with Globalstar, as it has a much smaller train of satellites, but clearly better positioned thanks to the licensed band. If they reach an agreement, they will be able to start working at full capacity much sooner.
Starlink is not going down. Despite the virtues of Globalstar and the forces it could combine with Leo, Starlink is not positioned as a losing company.
The power that having the largest train of telecommunications satellites gives it is still very great. However, the space is becoming saturated and there are more and more entities concerned about what the growth of this company could entail. If your maneuver based on the brute forceperhaps there could come a time when you find yourself at a disadvantage. We will have to wait to see it.
Image | Charles Boyer and Christian Wiediger
In WorldOfSoftware | Ukraine’s military has a problem almost as important as Russia: Starlink belongs to Elon Musk
