Amazon purchases Globalstar for $11.6B to expand its low Earth orbit satellite network

[Shawn Knight]

What just happened? Amazon has agreed to purchase longtime satellite network operator Globalstar as part of a deal valued at nearly $11.6 billion. The acquisition will expand the reach of Amazon's budding space-based communications platform, allowing the company to better compete with rivals like SpaceX's Starlink.

Per the agreement, Amazon will take ownership of Globalstar's existing operations including its low Earth orbit satellite network and supporting infrastructure, as well as related assets like mobile satellite service spectrum licenses. Amazon is paying $90 per Globalstar share – available either as cash or in Amazon stock – which values the deal at around $11.6 billion. The latter option works out to 0.3210 shares of Amazon stock for each share of Globalstar.

Amazon said the acquisition will enable them to add direct-to-device service to their existing Leo satellite network. The company is on track to deploy its D2D satellite system starting in 2028, which will afford more advanced voice, data, and messaging services to mobile devices compared with what legacy direct-to-cell systems are capable of. Once complete, Amazon's Leo network will consist of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit with the capacity to support hundreds of millions of customers around the globe.

Shares of Amazon are up nearly 3.3% on the news as of writing, and Globalstar shares have gained more than 10.5%.

Apple, if you recall, purchased a 20% stake in Globalstar back in 2024 for $1.1 billion. Amazon didn't mention that nugget in its press release, but did say it signed an agreement with the Cupertino-based tech giant to continue to power satellite features on select iPhone and Apple Watch models moving forward.

Just last month, Delta Air Lines inked a deal with Amazon to equip its planes with wireless internet service powered by Leo satellites. That multi-year agreement will initially involve outfitting 500 aircraft with gate-to-gate Wi-Fi service, which will be free to use for Delta SkyMiles members.

Amazon expects the deal to close sometime in 2027, pending customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

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Amazon purchases Globalstar for $11.6B to expand its low Earth orbit satellite network

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

I'll venture a guess that the European Commission is going to block this and screw over Globalstar like they did to iRobot: https://www.techspot.com/news/110597-roomba-maker-irobot-files-bankruptcy-after-35-years.html

 

[Vanderkaum037]

Yet they discontinued support for my Kindle.

 

[Beerfloat]

Yet they discontinued support for my Kindle.

Your Kindle that is now old enough to get married in Texas, yeah?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Your Kindle that is now old enough to get married in Texas, yeah?

On the one hand: yeah these things are ancient and we gotta move on eventually.

On the other, it reads epubs. Exactly how much innovation is there in the epub space?

 

[NumberNine]

I wonder how they plan to clean up after themselves. Surely they'll undertake the absurd process of a confirmed deorbit for thousands of pieces of obsolete floating trash one day, right? Right?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I wonder how they plan to clean up after themselves. Surely they'll undertake the absurd process of a confirmed deorbit for thousands of pieces of obsolete floating trash one day, right? Right?

Well it is standard practice for LEO satellites to be de orbited within 25 years of decommission, burning up int he atmosphere. Is there any reason to believe that Amazon will not do this like everyone else does, especially when world governments get REAL pissed if you make a mess in space?

 

[Sean T]

Dang. Apple doubled their investment in two years and made $1.1B off that deal.

 

[Vanderkaum037]

Your Kindle that is now old enough to get married in Texas, yeah?

It's a 4th gen. Just installed a new battery on it and then they made the announcement that they're not going to support their product anymore.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

It's a 4th gen. Just installed a new battery on it and then they made the announcement that they're not going to support their product anymore.

Why did you do that? The battery would cost almost as much as a new device, and your device was released 15 years ago. I can understand if the battery cost something like 1/10 the price of the device (like Apple offers for its phones), but from what I see Kindle batteries cost $40-70. At this point, I'm sure you've spent more money on Amazon books than the actual Kindle anyways; you would do that on a new Kindle device too.

 

[Vanderkaum037]

Why did you do that? The battery would cost almost as much as a new device, and your device was released 15 years ago. I can understand if the battery cost something like 1/10 the price of the device (like Apple offers for its phones), but from what I see Kindle batteries cost $40-70. At this point, I'm sure you've spent more money on Amazon books than the actual Kindle anyways; you would do that on a new Kindle device too.

1. I don't want a new device. 2. No the battery pack was $16.22 from Walmart so nowhere near the expense and waste of a new device.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

1. I don't want a new device. 2. No the battery pack was $16.22 from Walmart so nowhere near the expense and waste of a new device.

Well you have 1 month left of support, and $16 is almost the price of Kindle Unlimited at least. But I bet you wish you got a new device now. 15 years of support for consumer electronics is pretty good.

 

[Vanderkaum037]

Well you have 1 month left of support, and $16 is almost the price of Kindle Unlimited at least. But I bet you wish you got a new device now. 15 years of support for consumer electronics is pretty good.

I'm gonna be honest, I won't be needing any support from Amazon because I'm not going to be using their services anymore. And I can already load ebooks onto the device manually so I will continue doing that and using the books I've already loaded onto it. I went ahead and cancelled my Prime account (they wouldn't let me cancel online, had to call in and have them do it over the phone). I'm actually kind of grateful to Amazon for doing this because I've been meaning to cancel Prime and start using different online retailers and this was sort of the final shove out the door that I needed.