Amazon is seeking to challenge SpaceX in the low Earth orbit satellite Internet market by acquiring Globalstar.
According to informed sources, Amazon is in talks with satellite telecommunications operator Globalstar to acquire the company. As of Wednesday, April 1st, Globalstar's market value is about $9 billion, and its stock price has risen by about 230% over the past year. The market has long been betting that this company may become a potential competitor or acquisition target for SpaceX. After the news, Globalstar rose more than 15% in after hours trading.
The negotiations have been ongoing for a long time, but both sides are still discussing several complex issues. Insiders remind that there is currently no final agreement, and negotiations may still change or break down. Globalstar states that; The company policy does not comment on industry rumors or speculations;; Amazon declined to comment; Apple did not respond immediately.
One of the core obstacles to this acquisition is Apple's stake in Globalstar.
In 2024, Apple invested $1.5 billion in Globalstar, acquiring approximately 20% equity. As part of the agreement, Globalstar has committed to reserving 85% of its network capacity for Apple's satellite SMS services beyond cellular signal coverage for iPhone.
This means that if Amazon wants to complete the acquisition, it must also negotiate with Apple to handle this strategic capacity arrangement, making the transaction structure more complex.
Amazon's project to enter the LEO satellite Internet is called" Leo" The first batch of satellite launches was completed last year.
But the gap is huge: Amazon currently has only over 180 satellites in orbit, while SpaceX's Starlink has over 10000 active satellites in orbit.
Progress is also under pressure. Amazon had to apply to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a two-year extension in February this year to meet regulatory requirements for launching 1600 satellites originally scheduled for July this year. According to regulatory documents, Amazon plans to increase the number of satellites in orbit to about 700 by the middle of this year, but insufficient launch capacity is restricting its expansion pace.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told investors in February this year that Leo is a series of targets that the $2.2 trillion e-commerce giant will pursue; Incremental Opportunities "; one of.
Globalstar was founded in 1991 and is already a satellite telecommunications company with actual operational scale.
Its latest annual report shows that its revenue for the fiscal year 2025 was 273 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 9%; Operating revenue was 7.4 million US dollars, while a slight loss was recorded in the previous year.
For Amazon, acquiring Globalstar not only means gaining access to existing satellite networks and spectrum resources, but also directly compressing the gap with Starlink. According to Bloomberg, Globalstar was exploring the possibility of a sale in October last year and had initial contact with SpaceX, indicating that this asset has attracted attention from multiple parties.
At the commercial landing level, Amazon has signed agreements with JetBlue and Delta Airlines to provide airborne Internet services for their flights in 2027 and 2028 respectively - which also makes Globalstar's network capacity more strategic to Amazon.
