Profile

Globalstar, Inc. is an American satellite communications company that operates a low Earth orbit satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications, somewhat similar to the Iridium satellite constellation and Orbcomm satellite systems. The Globalstar second-generation constellation consists of 24 low Earth orbiting satellites. The Globalstar project was launched in 1991 as a joint venture of Loral Corporation and Qualcomm. On March 24, 1994, the two sponsors announced formation of Globalstar LP, a limited partnership established in the U.S., with financial participation from eight other companies, including Alcatel, AirTouch, Deutsche Aerospace, Hyundai and Vodafone. At that time, the company predicted the system would launch in 1998, based on an investment of $1.8 billion.