Amazon signs $11.57 billion deal for satellite firm Globalstar to challenge Musk's Starlink

'Satellite Wars' upcoming to the Earth server

11.57 billion to launch a satellite company feels like a steal when AI companies are getting double, triple, and even 10 times that.

Begun, the star wars have....

Competition for Starlink is actually a really good thing.

Full Article Text: > April 14 (Reuters) - Amazon.com (AMZN.O) said on Tuesday it would acquire Globalstar (GSAT.O) in an $11.57 billion deal, bolstering its fledgling satellite business as it looks to take ​on Elon Musk-led bigger rival Starlink. > Shares of satellite company Globalstar were up more than 9% ‌in premarket trading, after gaining over 6% in the past two weeks following media reports of the companies' discussions. The stock had nearly doubled in value last year and has risen about 12% ​so far this year, before news of an acquisition emerged. Amazon shares rose ​about 1% on Tuesday. > The deal gives Amazon access to Globalstar's network of ⁠two dozen satellites, boosting the tech giant's ambitions to challenge SpaceX unit Starlink, which currently ​has about 10,000 units in orbit. > Under the deal, the satellite firm's shareholders can elect to receive either $90 ​in cash or 0.3210 shares of Amazon common stock for each share of Globalstar they own, the companies said. > Amazon has been working to ramp up its network by deploying about 3,200 satellites in Earth's ​low orbit by 2029, with roughly half required to be in place by a ​July 2026 regulatory deadline. > The company currently operates a network of more than 200 satellites and is preparing ‌to ⁠roll out its satellite internet services later this year. > In contrast, Elon Musk's Starlink - the dominant satellite-based internet service provider - already serves more than nine million users globally. > Covington, Louisiana-based Globalstar, popular as the service that powers Apple's (AAPL.O) "Emergency SOS" feature, operates about two dozen satellites in low-Earth ​orbit. Late last year, ​it said a ⁠new, Apple-backed network under development would expand that to 54 satellites, including a small number of backups. > Globalstar offers voice, data, and asset-tracking ​services to customers across the enterprise, government and consumer markets. > In a ​parallel move, ⁠Amazon and Apple - which has invested some $1.5 billion in Globalstar - have signed an agreement to continue powering the satellite-based safety features, such as Emergency SOS and Find My, for iPhone and Apple Watch ⁠users. > The acquisition is ​expected to close next year, subject to regulatory approvals ​and achievement of specific satellite deployment milestones by Globalstar.

Competition to Starlink would be nice. Starlink keeps changing their plans pricing and adding different fees to start service in specific areas.

Dang does this mean more layoffs are coming?

its wild to me that society was just super cool with tech companies completely changing how the night sky looks now :(

They got enough rockets for these satellites?

Great, more trash in orbit and lost resources on the ground, sigh.

Apple the real w***** here. They get the satellite signal guarantee they bought 25% of Globalstar for, and get a huge buyout of their shares.

I’d rather have a clear view of the stars, but that doesn’t seem to make anybody money

Whew! For a minute there I thought Bozos might do something worthwhile and humanitarian with his billions.

Can please we get a competitor from a company that dosesn't suck??

I am sure this won't result in even more low-quality satellites being hurled into orbit, accelerating our headlong charge towards Kessler Syndrome. /s

These billionaire fucks want to make the night sky lame

How else are they going to communicate with their global AI powered war… I mean delivery drones.

Mommy and Daddy are fighting again.

Crazy to think Facebook wasted like $70+ Billion on the Metaverse/VR/Occulus when they couldve invested into something like this

This is less about physical satellites than the operating frequency the company ownes.

I love how these two want us to think they’re not competing.

Bout to be way too many satellites

So choices are "pest or cholera" as the Danish saying goes.

Great, let’s f*** up the night sky just a bit more so yachts get a better internet signal.

Having worked satellite programs military and civil, including global star pre-bankruptcy, Globalstar hybrid approach with Amazon may offer more flexible, rapid deployment and upgrades compared to Starlink's reliance on satellite expansions, which could be a key differentiator for certain use cases. Globalstar's satellites use a bent pipe architecture. They rely heavily on ground-based systems to process and route signals. Amazon's Project Kuiper is working on a network of LEO satellites that will provide global broadband coverage, similar to Starlink. With this collaboration, Globalstar and Amazon, they can integrate Globalstar’s terrestrial infrastructure (ground stations and hardware) with the new LEO constellation for improved coverage and more efficient services. Hybrid solution means the system could switch between satellite relay and terrestrial communication, optimizing for coverage and performance, particularly in areas with limited connectivity. Upgrades on the ground are a significant advantage of this model since it’s easier to adjust infrastructure and add capacity without needing to upgrade the satellites themselves, which could be more challenging and costly.

Can we stop it already with f****** up the night sky with garbage?

pick your a****** billionaire champion

We’ve phucked up earth so let’s do space

top stating it is a "challenge". They are not the same products, different markets. One is affordable consumer/military grade, one is business only and expensive. And that is IF it works.

Jfc. A billionaire pissing contest. Exactly what we need right now

Funny thing, they launch on Falcon 9.

The mega multi billionaires playing starwars. While the world goes to hell in a handbasket. How not surprising.

yeah, what we really need now is even more space junk /S

Good. Billionaires vs. Billionaires. I hope they all end up fighting each other.

Doesnt china have a network being built too?

Hate both, but i would rather not have elon monopoly in space.

One company launches a bunch of space trash, so another one is gonna do the same.

Globalstar sounds a tad bit Russian if you ask me.

How can private players take over the entire world's sky, this is ridiculous. Such tech should be the right of every citizen. It's our resources and our atmosphere the machines are operating In.

Oh goodie, more space junk.

"24 satellites" isn't starlink like 14,000 lol

Can't wait until the billionaire revolution begins and we nationalise the assets of these tax dodging, worker exploiting, resource stealing, earth trashing psychopathic parasites.

How long before we no longer see the sky? Only half joking, it seems like nothings stopping them.

Billionaires gonna speed run us to Kessler syndrome. 

Yup… give it like 5 years and all the satellites will just crash into each other and we’ll have a permanent garbage belt *zooming* around our planet.

Amazon launched their own Satellite company a few years ago under the brand Kuiper. They had a very aggressive timeline with how many satellites they wanted to launch each year. The business has recently been rebranded to Amazon LEO (low earth orbit) https://leo.amazon.com/ I guess they thought acquisition was faster than build your own…

Im so mad at selling my shares I held on to this stock for years in the $2 range.. kicking myself in the ass now lol

YAY! More overpriced, underperforming space junk no one wants! Or is it another way for Amazon to get a tax rebate..??

Foolish decision. Starlink has a lock on this. You can now get internet anywhere on the planet pretty c**** and very reliably.

Begun, the satellite wars have..

Can anyone calculate at what point there would be too many satellites in orbit that astronomy as a hobby will not be fun, as in most the times you will see these satellites zoom through?

A 2023 survey found that roughly 23% of surveyed Amazon workers relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).