Program: Globalstar

USA

Globalstar provides affordable, dependable high quality satellite voice and data service across the United States and to over 120 countries worldwide. Each Globalstar satellite consists of an antenna, a trapezoidal body, two solar arrays and a magnetometer, and operates at an altitude of 1,414km (876 miles). The satellites are placed in eight orbital planes of six satellites each, inclined at 52° to provide service on Earth from 70° North latitude to 70° South latitude. The Globalstar constellation consists of 48 LEO satellites, with an additional four satellites in orbit as spares.
Operated by Loral Qualcomm Satellite Services Inc.

The satellites were launched into 8 orbital planes, with 6 satellites in each plane to provide continuous global coverage.

Status: officially started operations on 11 Oct 1999

In Jan 2001 Loral announced that it would stop funding Globalstar.

Globalstar proposed next generation would be composed of 64 LEO satellites and 4 GEO satellites.

Globalstar caracteristiques:

Prime manufacturer Alcatel Alenia Space
Platform Proteus bus
Operator Globalstar
Mass at launch  700 kg
Dry Mass  kg
Basic shape  
Dimension (m) 
Equipment 16 C-to-S-band transponders, 16 L-to-C-band transponders
Solar array 2 deployable solar arrays
Power 2.4 kW (bol), 1.7 kW (eol)
Application Communication
Design lifetime  15 yrs

Globalstar launches:

NameNORAD IDInt'l CodeLaunch datePeriod
[minutes]		Remarks
GLOBALSTAR M073371932010-054FOctober 19, 2010104.7-
GLOBALSTAR M075371922010-054EOctober 19, 2010114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M077371912010-054DOctober 19, 2010104.5-
GLOBALSTAR M076371902010-054COctober 19, 2010105.3-
GLOBALSTAR M074371892010-054BOctober 19, 2010105.2-
GLOBALSTAR M079371882010-054AOctober 19, 2010105.8-
GLOBALSTAR M068322662007-048DOctober 20, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M066322652007-048COctober 20, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M070322642007-048BOctober 20, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M067322632007-048AOctober 20, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M071315762007-020FMay 29, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M072315742007-020DMay 29, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M069315732007-020CMay 29, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M065315712007-020AMay 29, 2007114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M064260842000-008DFebruary 8, 2000114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M060260832000-008CFebruary 8, 2000118.3-
GLOBALSTAR M062260822000-008BFebruary 8, 2000115.5-
GLOBALSTAR M063260812000-008AFebruary 8, 2000114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M061259641999-062DNovember 22, 1999122.4-
GLOBALSTAR M029259631999-062CNovember 22, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M034259621999-062BNovember 22, 1999118.5-
GLOBALSTAR M039259611999-062ANovember 22, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M031259461999-058DOctober 18, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M056259451999-058COctober 18, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M059259441999-058BOctober 18, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M057259431999-058AOctober 18, 1999115.3-
GLOBALSTAR M055259101999-049DSeptember 22, 1999117.1-
GLOBALSTAR M033259091999-049CSeptember 22, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M050259081999-049BSeptember 22, 1999119.3-
GLOBALSTAR M058259071999-049ASeptember 22, 1999117.6-
GLOBALSTAR M053258861999-043DAugust 17, 1999127.7-
GLOBALSTAR M054258851999-043CAugust 17, 1999126.4-
GLOBALSTAR M027258841999-043BAugust 17, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M024258831999-043AAugust 17, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M028258751999-041DJuly 25, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M043258741999-041CJuly 25, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M026258731999-041BJuly 25, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M048258721999-041AJuly 25, 1999127-
GLOBALSTAR M030258541999-037DJuly 10, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M051258531999-037CJuly 10, 1999124.8-
GLOBALSTAR M032258521999-037BJuly 10, 1999114.1->
GLOBALSTAR M035258511999-037AJuly 10, 1999130.4-
GLOBALSTAR M052257731999-031DJune 10, 1999114.1--
GLOBALSTAR M047257721999-031CJune 10, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M049257711999-031BJune 10, 1999129.5-
GLOBALSTAR M025257701999-031AJune 10, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M042256791999-019DApril 15, 1999117.8-
GLOBALSTAR M044256781999-019CApril 15, 1999117.4-
GLOBALSTAR M019256771999-019BApril 15, 1999116.5-
GLOBALSTAR M045256761999-019AApril 15, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M037256521999-012DMarch 15, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M046256511999-012CMarch 15, 1999116-
GLOBALSTAR M041256501999-012BMarch 15, 1999116.8-
GLOBALSTAR M022256491999-012AMarch 15, 1999119.8-
GLOBALSTAR M038256241999-004DFebruary 9, 1999115-
GLOBALSTAR M036256231999-004CFebruary 9, 1999116.9-
GLOBALSTAR M040256221999-004BFebruary 9, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M023256211999-004AFebruary 9, 1999114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M008253091998-023DApril 24, 1998115.2-
GLOBALSTAR M015253081998-023CApril 24, 1998117.9-
GLOBALSTAR M006253071998-023BApril 24, 1998114.1-
GLOBALSTAR M014253061998-023AApril 24, 1998123.6-
GLOBALSTAR M003251651998-008DFebruary 14, 1998118.8-
GLOBALSTAR M002251641998-008CFebruary 14, 1998124-
GLOBALSTAR M004251631998-008BFebruary 14, 1998114-
GLOBALSTAR M001251621998-008AFebruary 14, 1998116.3-

Slots and planes


slot satellites #
plane 1 (44) 1, 2, 3, 4
plane 2 (90) 6, 8, 14, 15

Constellation overview

Orbit type LEO
Orbit range 1414 km, circular
Nb of satellites 48 + 8 backup
Nb of planes 8
Inclination 52°
Nb beams per satellite 16
Coverage 5796 km²
Modulation CDMA
Mobile frequencies Uplink: 2483.5 - 2500 MHz
Downlink: 1610-1626.5 MHz
Fixed frequencies Uplink: 5091 - 5250 GHz
Downlink: 6875 - 7055 GHz
Satellite mass 425 kg
Coverage all longitudes, 74N - 74S latitudes

Ref: #14, #1, #228 - update: 11.01.11