Navarra said the satellites in the first network are becoming weaker. The low-earth orbiting satellites circle the globe about 850 miles in the sky. As they age, Globalstar takes them up about 1,000 miles above the earth and then replaces them with new satellites.<\/p>\n
Since the technology has improved, the second-generation network will be able to handle duplex voice and data at a rate of 256 kilobits per second, compared to just 9.6 kilobits per second earlier. It has high quality and the data transfer speed will now be better.<\/p>\n
To further finance its new generation, Globalstar has raised $505 million in loans from a consortium of French banks and another $71 million from satellite maker Thales Alenia and rocket maker Arianespace.<\/p>\n
While satellite phones seem quaint at a time of growing cell phone coverage, Navarra said that many of Globalstar’s 375,000 customers are in remote regions of the U.S. and Canada. The phones used to be the size of bricks, but they’re now about twice the size of typical cell phones, with a little antenna nub sticking out of them.<\/p>\n
The company generates about $76 to $80 per subscriber per month for voice service and $10 per subscriber per month for data service. The company also makes money from engineering services. And its Spot division recently announced a satellite communicator to go with Delorme’s navigation handheld<\/a>.<\/p>\n Navarra said the company will launch one or two rockets this year, using Arainespace. Each rocket will carry six satellites. Today, the company said it has begun to install upgrades at its gateway ground stations around the world to get ready to deploy the second-generation satellite constellation.<\/p>\n