Globalstar’s Four More

Four… that’s correct, four… satellites were successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle, and Globalstar Inc. is delighted to be able to augment the earlier four satellites launched in May of this year. The secondgen satellites from Globalstar are scheduled for their initial launches in 2009. The Baikonur Cosmodrome launch occurred on Sunday, October 21st, at 2:12 a.m., local time, using the Soyuz-Fregat version of the Soyuz launch vehicle. This is the 1,726th successful launch of this particular rocket. Launch services provider Starsem confirmed the upper stage accurately injected the four-satellite dispenser into the targeted low earth orbit of approximately 920 km.




All four satellites have been successfully acquired following the separation of the upper stage and release from the satellite dispenser. The performance of the four spacecraft is nominal at this time, according to Globalstar. Back in December of 2006, Globalstar signed a 662 million Euro contract with Thales Alenia Space for the design, manufacture and delivery of 48 new satellites for the secondgen Globalstar satellite constellation, with the expectancy they will provide service until at least 2025. The secondgen satellites will have Arianespace handling launch services from their Guiana Space Center complex in French Guiana—Milpitas, California