{"id":91399,"date":"2026-10-28T18:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/fcc-approves-amazon-acquisition-of-globalstar-to-advance-direct-to-device-capabilities\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T18:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T10:35:52","slug":"fcc-approves-amazon-acquisition-of-globalstar-to-advance-direct-to-device-capabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/fcc-approves-amazon-acquisition-of-globalstar-to-advance-direct-to-device-capabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"FCC Approves Amazon Acquisition of Globalstar to Advance Direct-to-Device Capabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In a regulatory decision issued Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted approval for Amazon.com Inc.\u2019s proposed acquisition of satellite operator Globalstar. <\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\/\/satnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Globalstar_LEOs_648-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-127470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/satnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Globalstar_LEOs_648-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/satnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Globalstar_LEOs_648-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/satnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Globalstar_LEOs_648-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/satnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Globalstar_LEOs_648.png 1141w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The transaction, initially announced in April at an estimated valuation of $11.5 billion, was authorized by the commission on grounds that the combination will expand commercial competition in the direct-to-device (D2D) telecommunications sector, where SpaceX maintains an established position via Starlink Mobile.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>D2D Market Competition and Subsidiary Structure<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Industry pricing estimates published by Via Satellite place the transaction value at $10.8 billion, covering Globalstar\u2019s operational satellite fleet, physical ground infrastructure, and licensed spectrum allocations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the terms approved by the commission, Globalstar will transition into a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon while retaining its current corporate brand identity. The company will operate as an affiliate of Kuiper Systems LLC (Amazon Leo), facilitating operational alignment between Globalstar\u2019s mobile satellite services (MSS) assets and Amazon\u2019s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Orbital Fleet Architecture and Production Baseline<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The regulatory clearance follows the FCC Space Bureau\u2019s Oct. 19 grant authorizing Globalstar\u2019s third-generation C-3 D2D satellite constellation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Technical and operational specifications for the authorized infrastructure include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Constellation Volume:<\/strong> 54 planned C-3 spacecraft, consisting of 48 active operational low Earth orbit units and six dedicated on-orbit spares.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Manufacturing Prime:<\/strong> Spacecraft manufacturing contracted to MDA Space to construct the D2D satellite buses and payloads.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Launch Phasing:<\/strong> Initial orbital launch campaigns scheduled to commence in 2027.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spectrum Integration:<\/strong> Unified operation of Globalstar\u2019s globally harmonized mobile satellite spectrum and ground stations alongside Amazon\u2019s existing ground and space segments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Closing Timeline to 2027<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amazon confirmed that it expects to formalize and close the transaction in 2027, pending the conclusion of remaining regulatory reviews and interagency approvals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a regulatory decision issued Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted approval for Amazon.com Inc.\u2019s proposed acquisition of satellite operator Globalstar. The transaction, initially announced in April at an estimated valuation of $11.5 billion, was authorized by the commission on grounds that the combination will expand commercial competition in the direct-to-device (D2D) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91399\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}