The unnamed customer funding the FM15 launch is also financing nearly all the costs of 17 new satellites that Globalstar ordered from Canadian company MDA in February 2024.
A Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Space Launch Complex 40 on 2024-06-19 at 12:27 a.m. Eastern with Globalstar FM15 as an identified payload.
Globalstar’s 2024-05-05 Securities and Exchange Commission filing stated that the vast majority of the costs to prepare Globalstar FM15 for launch and the launch itself were paid for by an unnamed customer.
Globalstar reported after the 2024-06-19 launch that the FM15 satellite was working well.
SPOT Gen4 launched in EMEA in August 2020 as the newest member of Globalstar’s SPOT device family.
Rocket Lab won a $143,000,000 contract from Canadian company MDA in February 2022 to produce 17 spacecraft for Globalstar.
Globalstar submitted ITU filings in December 2020 through Germany’s licensing authority registering plans for 3,080 satellites operating in low Earth orbit between 485 and 700 km.
On 2022-05-05, Globalstar signed a term sheet with a large, global customer to start deploying some of its spectrum for terrestrial use in the U.S. and beyond.
Globalstar posted a $21,000,000 net loss for the first quarter of 2022, an improvement from a $36,000,000 net loss for the same period in 2021.
Globalstar has worked with Nokia for years to develop terrestrial solutions for Band 53, including private wireless networks and systems for connecting Internet of Things devices.
There were reports in fall 2021 that the iPhone 13 line could include Globalstar-enabled connectivity, but Apple made no mention of satellite services when the iPhone 13 was unveiled in September 2021.
Globalstar has not disclosed the identity of the financial backer funding most of the $327,000,000 satellite replenishment project.
On 2022-02-24, Globalstar selected MDA and Rocket Lab to supply 17 satellites to replenish its constellation after a potential customer agreed to fund most of the $327,000,000 project.
Globalstar’s revenues rose 22% to $33,000,000 for the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, driven by engineering and other service revenue derived from its undisclosed wholesale capacity customer.
The mystery customer is looking to use frequencies Globalstar holds in S-band Band 53.
MDA Ltd. recorded a contract award from Globalstar in early 2022 for a LEO satellite constellation valued at approximately $415,000,000.
Rocket Lab signed a 2022-02-24 contract to provide satellite buses to MDA for a new generation of Globalstar communications satellites valued at $143,000,000.
Globalstar is acquiring the satellites to provide continuous satellite services to a potential customer under the Terms Agreement and to Globalstar’s current and future customers.
Globalstar awarded a $327,000,000 contract to MDA to build 17 satellites intended to extend the life of Globalstar’s existing satellite constellation.
The contract from Globalstar to MDA includes an option for up to nine additional satellites at $11,400,000 each.