- M&A buzz surrounds GlobalStar
- Reports suggest Amazon is in takeover talks as it aims to gain ground on Starlink
- GlobalStar is now valued at almost $10bn
Amazon is reportedly seeking to bolster its satellite communications portfolio with the acquisition of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite operator GlobalStar.
The tech giant has been investing in its own constellation, Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper), for several years now and started putting its own production satellites into orbit about a year ago, but now seems keen to gain much greater scale by acquiring an established operator.
According to the Financial Times (subscription required), citing sources familiar with the matter, the move is part of Amazon’s ambitions to ramp up its satellite business, Amazon Leo, as a direct rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink, which is part of the tech tycoon’s SpaceX operation. Starlink has long been providing satellite broadband services via its global constellation of about 10,000 LEO satellites and about 650 units designed specifically for direct-to-device (D2D) services that connect to regular smartphones.
SpaceX had previously been identified as a potential suitor for GlobalStar back in October, though nothing seemed to come from any talks held at that time, and it seems unlikely that SpaceX would engage in any major M&A process in the runup to its major IPO.
Speculation that Amazon is engaged in takeover talks lit a fire under GlobalStar’s share price, which jumped by almost 11% to $75.72 on the Nasdaq exchange in pre-market trading on Thursday, giving the company a market valuation of about $9.8bn.
Globalstar recently reported 2025 full year revenues of $273m, up by 9%, and an operating profit of $7.4m compared with a small operating loss in 2024.
GlobalStar first launched in 1991 as a joint venture between Loral and Qualcomm before a major restructure in 2004. It operates a second-generation constellation of 25 satellites that provides voice services, internet of things (IoT) connectivity and personal safety services. Perhaps more importantly, it also operates a ground station network spanning 24 global gateways and has licensed spectrum in more than 120 countries, assets that could help accelerate Amazon’s satellite plans.
Amazon Leo aims to launch a commercial service later this year and will add significantly more satellites to its constellation – it has permission to launch up to 3,236 satellites, but delays forced the company to ask the US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for more time to launch around 1,600 satellites by an agreed July 2026 deadline.
Complicating any potential takeover by Amazon is the fact that Apple currently owns a 20% stake in GlobalStar, which the iPhone giant bought in October 2024 when it made a $1.5bn investment in GlobalStar. Apple also relies on GlobalStar to provide capacity for its Emergency SoS service feature, which first launched on the iPhone 14 and has featured on every model since.
According to the FT, neither Amazon, GlobalStar or Apple responded to requests for comments on the speculation.
- James Pearce, Editor, TelecomTV
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