Globalstar, Crosses Its Fingers>
Globalstar Awards Launch Contract to Arianespace
BUSINESS WIRE
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 23,
1998--Globalstar (NASDAQ:GSTRF) today
announced that it has awarded a satellite launch
contract to Arianespace of Evry, France, for the
launch of six Globalstar satellites aboard an
Ariane 4 rocket.
The launch, currently slated for September 1999
from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou,
French Guiana, would further bolster Globalstar's
already robust launch back-up capability. If the
launch is not required at that time to complete the
Globalstar constellation, it will be reassigned by Loral to another mission.
Globalstar earlier announced that it would use a combination of Soyuz and
Delta launches, each with four satellites, to launch a minimum of 32 satellites
in orbit to support the progressive roll-out of commercial service in the third
quarter of 1999. By December 1999, Globalstar expects to have launched a
total of 52 satellites, which will comprise the full operational constellation of
48 satellites, plus four in-orbit spares.
"The Ariane-4 has an excellent flight heritage," said Megan Fitzgerald, vice
president of space systems engineering for Globalstar. "This will provide
additional flexibility in our launch schedule as we continue to deploy our
space segment for the start of commercial service in the third quarter of
1999."
Globalstar is the next-generation provider of mobile satellite personal
communications services. The Globalstar system, comprising 48
low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites and a global network of ground stations,
will provide people around the world with fixed phone and hand-held mobile
satellite phone services, as well as data transmission (at up to 9.6 kilobits
per second), messaging, facsimile and position location services.
Globalstar is designed to provide cost-effective, high-quality mobile satellite
services to customers around the world. Its use of advanced CDMA
technology ensures superior voice quality, and its system routes calls through
multiple satellites simultaneously, minimizing dropped calls and maximizing
completed calls. Globalstar has been conducting handset tests since April of
1998 via the eight satellites it currently has in orbit.
Globalstar now has service provider agreements in more than 100 countries,
covering 90 percent of Globalstar's business plan. Five Globalstar gateways
are being used to control and test the satellite system, and site work and
construction is under way at 20 more gateway sites around the world.
Some subscribers will use portable phones, similar to today's cellular
phones, with dual-mode capability so subscribers can switch from
conventional cellular telephony to satellite telephony as required. Subscribers
in rural and remote areas may make or receive calls through fixed-site
telephones, similar either to phone booths or ordinary residential and
business telephones. Globalstar phones will communicate through a
Globalstar satellite to a gateway--or ground station -- that in turn will
connect calls into the existing terrestrial telecommunications network.
Globalstar, led by [ Loral Space & Communications ] , is a partnership of
the world's leading telecommunications service providers and equipment
manufacturers, and includes [ QUALCOMM Incorporated ] , [ AirTouch
Communications ] , Alcatel, Alenia, China Telecom (HK), DACOM,
Daimler-Benz Aerospace, Elsacom (a Finmeccanica/Elsag Bailey
Company), [ France Telecom ] , [ Hyundai ] , Space Systems/Loral and
Vodafone. For more information, visit Globalstar's web site at
globalstar.com.
Loral Space & Communications (NYSE:LOR), headquartered in New
York City, is a high technology company that primarily concentrates on
satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services, including broadcast
transponder leasing and value added services, domestic and international
corporate data networks, global wireless telephony, broadband data
transmission and content services, Internet services and international
direct-to-home satellite services. For more information, visit Loral's web site
at loral.com.
(Copyright 1998) |
