Apple’s $450,000,000 investment includes expansion and enhancement of Globalstar ground stations in Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Puerto Rico, and Texas.
Globalstar operates 24 satellites in low Earth orbit that receive Emergency SOS via satellite messages.
Cobham Satcom engineers and manufactures the high‑powered antennas that receive signals transmitted by the Globalstar satellite constellation.
SpaceX, Iridium (Globalstar’s rival), and other established and early‑stage satellite operators are developing direct‑to‑smartphone services ranging from basic SOS to 0.005 kg broadband.
Customized components and software on iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max models enable those devices to directly connect with one of 24 satellites Globalstar operates in low Earth orbit.
Apple plans to invest $450,000,000 to upgrade Globalstar’s network.
All 17 new Globalstar spacecraft platforms are being designed and manufactured at Rocket Lab’s Long Beach production complex and headquarters.
Rocket Lab was awarded a $143,000,000 contract in February 2022 to design and manufacture 17 spacecraft buses for Globalstar’s new LEO satellites.
The Globalstar SOCC will provide 24/7 monitoring and management of Globalstar’s constellation using Rocket Lab’s MAX GDS.
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has been selected by MDA Ltd. to develop the Satellite Operations Control Center (SOCC) for Globalstar’s growing constellation.
The MAX GDS solution will be deployed to Globalstar’s existing operations and network control centers in Covington, Louisiana; Milpitas, California; and Aussaguel, France.
Cobham Satcom provided antennas to bolster all of Globalstar’s ground stations worldwide, including new sites in Nevada and Hawaii and existing facilities in Texas, Alaska, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
Apple’s $450,000,000 investment helped Globalstar upgrade ground stations across the United States and elsewhere with high-power antennas.
Globalstar has ordered a new generation of satellites from MDA Ltd. and Rocket Lab to primarily support its partnership with Apple.
Globalstar expanded its teams in California and elsewhere to construct, expand, and upgrade its ground stations.
Apple is financing the majority of new Globalstar satellites to support Apple’s direct-to-smartphone plans.
Under ideal conditions, Apple’s emergency messages via Globalstar could take 15 seconds to send and could take as long as three minutes in other cases due to bandwidth constraints.
Apple’s Globalstar-enabled satellite services will be limited to emergency SOS on certain iPhone 14 models when launched via a software update in November 2022.
Apple selected Globalstar as its partner to develop an iPhone 14 feature that enables sending emergency messages from remote locations.
Globalstar reported $124,300,000 in revenue in 2021 and expects revenue of between $185,000,000 and $230,000,000 in 2023 with a further 35% increase by 2026.