The deal will strengthen direct-to-phone communications capabilities, preserve Apple's satellite services, and put Amazon in more direct competition with Starlink.
Amazon and Globalstar have announced a binding merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Globalstar, a move designed to add direct-to-cellular (D2D) capabilities to Amazon Leo. Under the terms of the deal, Globalstar shareholders will have the option of receiving $90 in cash per share or 0.3210 Amazon shares, with the cash component capped at 40% of the total shares. Shareholders holding approximately 57.6% of the voting power have already approved the transaction in writing, so no separate shareholder vote is required. The transaction is expected to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and the achievement of milestones related to Globalstar’s replacement satellites.
Why Globalstar?
For Amazon, Globalstar's value is not only in its existing satellite fleet, but mainly in the combination of active satellite infrastructure, experience in mobile satellite services and global MSS spectrum licenses. Amazon itself emphasized that it will acquire Globalstar's satellite operations, infrastructure and assets, including spectrum licenses. Globalstar's annual report stated that the company ended 2025 with revenues of $273 million, and is promoting the expansion of ground infrastructure, which includes about 90 new antennas at 35 ground stations in 25 countries. The report also shows that the company has ground rights in the US to 11.5 MHz in the S-Band, defined in 3GPP as Band 53 and in the 5G version as n53.
What that means in practice is that Amazon isn’t just buying another satellite company, but a shortcut to the spectrum layer and direct connectivity to phones. This is a somewhat different area than the broad satellite internet service that Amazon Leo, formerly Project Kuiper, has built so far. Amazon rebranded Project Kuiper as Amazon Leo in November 2025, and its planned constellation still stands at 3,236 satellites.
Parallel agreement with Apple
In conjunction with the acquisition, Amazon and Apple announced an agreement under which Amazon Leo will continue to expand satellite services for supported iPhone and Apple Watch models. According to Amazon, these include services such as Emergency SOS via satellite, messaging, Find My and roadside assistance, and future satellite services will rely on both Globalstar’s existing and planned constellation and Amazon Leo’s expansion. Amazon also announced that starting in 2028, it plans to deploy its own D2D system, which will enable voice, data and messaging services directly to phones and other mobile devices.
The relationship between Globalstar and Apple is not new. As early as November 2024, Reuters reported that Apple would invest up to $1.5 billion in expanding Globalstar’s satellite coverage for iPhone communications services. Globalstar documents from that period stated that a “customer” of the company had committed to financing infrastructure of up to $1.1 billion and to acquiring 20% of the Globalstar SPE special purpose vehicle for $400 million, a structure designed to finance the expanded network.
Against Starlink, but without solving everything
The deal puts Amazon in more direct conflict with SpaceX’s Starlink in the emerging direct-to-phone market. Reuters noted that Globalstar brings a network designed for reliable, low-data-rate D2D connectivity, while Starlink grew primarily as a satellite broadband network and is now also developing cellular services in partnership with operators such as T-Mobile. However, the deal does not solve Amazon’s fundamental weakness: deployment speed. According to Reuters, Amazon had deployed only 243 of the 3,236 satellites it originally planned by mid-April, while SpaceX already operates more than 10,000 Starlink satellites.
Amazon itself also indirectly admits that the network is still in the expansion stages. The company said last week that it already has more than 200 Leo satellites in orbit and that thousands more will go up in the coming years. Therefore, the acquisition of Globalstar does not overnight change the balance of power with SpaceX in terms of deployment numbers, but mainly strengthens Amazon’s cellular, regulatory and spectral dimensions. In other words, Amazon is buying time, frequencies, partnerships and field experience here, not just satellites.
From a market perspective, this is a clear sign that the commercial space race is entering a new phase: not just satellite-dish internet, but also a direct connection from the sky to the phone in your pocket. If the deal is approved, Amazon will arrive in 2028 with a more significant strategic asset in the fight for the direct-to-device satellite communications market.
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