spacetoday.net: Globalstar signs agreement for next-generation satellites

Posted: Wed, Oct 11, 2006, 8:16 AM ET (1216 GMT)
Globalstar satellite illustration

Low Earth orbit communications satellite operator Globalstar announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with a European manufacturer to build Globalstar's next generation of satellites. The "authorization to proceed" (ATP) agreement between Globalstar and Alcatel Alenia Space allows initial design work to begin on 48 satellites that would replace Globalstar's existing constellation. The ATP contract, valued at €7.7 million (US$9.7 million), lasts through November 15 or until a definitive contract between the two companies is signed. Globalstar currently operates a constellation of 40 satellites that provide phone and data services in many regions of the world, but those satellites, launched between 1998 and 2000, are nearing the end of their design life. Alenia Spazio, now part of Alcatel Alenia Space, was one of the contractors for the original Globalstar satellites. The new satellites, designed to operate through 2025, will be fully backward-compatible with existing satellites while offering new and enhanced services. Globalstar, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004, filed for an IPO of stock last week.