Since Globalstar has been looking to the market for a buyer to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive satellite services environment, Amazon has jumped at the opportunity. By acquiring Globalstar, Amazon is raising concerns about SpaceX’s Starlink, which has had a virtually unhindered free run in the global satellite connectivity market. But for Starlink, it’s not connectivity that should be a concern. For Amazon, Globalstar brings satellite reliability, legitimacy, expertise, D2D credentials, and valuable frequency licenses and spectrum that it would otherwise have had to go through a lengthy process to acquire.
Amazon is shrugging off the regulatory whirlwind and jumping into the fray for business, government, and IoT customers looking to connect where terrestrial networks don’t. And Starlink isn’t the only thing to worry about. Amazon’s move will reshape the satellite game, especially in the enterprise space. Amazon’s cloud competitors will find that there’s another feather in the cap that they can incorporate into the company’s ever-expanding ecosystem. Applications in IoT, maritime, logistics, remote agriculture, and virtually every current use case that Globalstar offers in-house (from monitoring liquids in tanks and energy stations in Latin America to tracking trailers and wandering horses in Transoxiana) mean Amazon can demonstrate its expertise in the real world through existing demand.
Ismail Patel, senior analyst at GlobalData, said: “By acquiring Globalstar, Amazon will be able to eliminate negative news surrounding launch delays and failure to meet the FCC’s obligation to launch more than 1,600 satellites into space by mid-2026.” “The company is expanding to position itself as not only too big to fail, but also a necessary and reliable competitor to Starlink. Amazon’s plan is to position Amazon Leo as part of the broader Amazon and its integrated services.” AWS ecosystem. Amazon can leverage Globalstar’s existing use cases to cast the widest possible net to enterprise customers, which are attractive to integrated Amazon services covering satellite IoT, connectivity, and D2D. ”
Amazon’s move is not without risks. This is the company’s second largest acquisition to date, valued at $11.57 billion. But closure is expected in 2027, by which time the competitive environment for satellites will have changed significantly. Consider that Globalstar’s orbital infrastructure is aging compared to AST SpaceMobile and Starlink, requires integration with an Amazon-branded antenna fleet, and that Apple, a 20% shareholder in Globalstar, retains 85% of the D2D capacity on Apple devices. There are also other issues that need to be resolved in the medium term. Amazon’s plans to launch an orbital data center, which many in the industry believe is one-third, and Jeff Bezos’ own Terawave project, expected to launch late next year and target businesses and governments, could shrink Amazon’s addressable market.
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