Globalstar Has All The 2ndGen SatGoodies Pieced Together

A launch agreement has been signed between Globalstar, Inc. [NASDAQ: GSAT] and European launch services company, Arianespace. The event both will work on is for the launch of Globalstar’s secondgen Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. Globalstar now will have the ability to conduct back-to-back launch campaigns and start launching their new satellites as early as the summer of 2009.



The high reliable Soyuz launch vehicle will be used… in fact, this “put ‘em into space” vehicle has already been used successfully to launch 28 Globalstar satellites since 1999. Not too shabby of a record, eh? Four additional firstgen satellites are scheduled to launch using the Soyuz booster later this year, as well.



This new agreement provides for as many as eight launches from Arianespace’s Guiana Space Center complex in French Guiana, already the site of more than 460 launches since the center became operational in 1968. All of the launch complex modifications should be well completed before the 2009 Globalstar launch dates. If necessary, those launches could occur at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.



The preliminary design of the new Globalstar constellation has been completed and prime contractor Thales Alenia Space has also started initial manufacturing of the satellite components. The constellation is being designed with a 15-year contracted lifespan—Milpitas, California