Amazon to FCC: Globalstar Spectrum Necessary to Compete in D2D Market
The company is planning to take over Apple’s 20 percent stake in Globalstar as part of its acquisition.
Jake Neenan
WASHINGTON, May 27, 2026 – Amazon is planning to deploy a new direct-to-device satellite constellation using Globalstar’s spectrum, the company told federal regulators Wednesday.
The company didn’t say how many units it would launch or what timeline it was aiming for, but said it had already developed special antenna systems designed for Globalstar’s spectrum holdings in the L-band, S-band, and 1.6/2.5 GigaHertz (GHz) spectrum holdings.
“The Transaction will provide a robust D2D service to customers faster than any alternative path,” the companies wrote in their application with the Federal Communications Commission. The filing was led by Michal John Carlson, Amazon’s senior corporate counsel.
Globalstar, based in Covington, La., has global spectrum rights, the companies wrote, “but Globalstar lacks the capital and operational infrastructure to realize the full potential of that spectrum. Amazon will close that gap.”
Amazon said it would use designs similar to its existing Amazon Leo satellites, used for fixed broadband, so the company could use existing manufacturing capacity and launch contracts to spin up a new constellation. The company would have to apply for authorization to launch a new system.
In April, Amazon reached a deal to buy Globalstar for $11.6 billion, and the FCC application was posted Wednesday. The acquisition was seen as a means of allowing Amazon to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile, which SpaceX has ambitious plans for.
Globalstar provides direct-to-device service to Apple phones, part of a partnership that saw Apple pay $400 million for a 20 percent stake in the company, plus $1.1 billion in funding for satellites.
Amazon revealed in the filing that it would take over Apple’s 20 percent stake, but said it would continue supporting Apple phones and “anticipates providing services for iPhone users and others with more features and better service reliability.” The company said it would also continue supporting Globalstar’s planned C-3 constellation that’s still seeking FCC approval, on top of the future system Amazon has planned.
The companies described the acquisition as necessary to compete in the nascent direct-to-device market. SpaceX acquired exclusive spectrum from EchoStar for more than $19 billion and plans to launch 15,000 satellites to support new high-speed mobile service with the airwaves, and AST SpaceMobile is looking to operate with fellow satellite operator Ligado’s L-band spectrum, the application noted.
In that context, Amazon needs its own spectrum access if it’s going to use its piles of cash and existing manufacturing capacity to offer a competitive direct-to-device service, the companies argued.
“Rather than consolidating existing competitors, the Transaction expands the competitive field by creating a well-capitalized company with manufacturing scale, access to launch infrastructure, and systems operation experience that will accelerate deployment of next-generation MSS services and deliver high-capacity, high-quality mobile satellite connectivity,” the companies wrote.
While satellite companies’ ultimate ambitions are to secure exclusive airwaves where they can, the FCC does allow satellite operators to provide mobile service by leasing terrestrial spectrum owned by mobile carriers. SpaceX offers this kind of service through a partnership with T-Mobile and AST has deals with AT&T and Verizon to do the same once it has enough satellites in orbit.
The three national mobile carriers said this month they were planning to form a joint venture that would allow satellite operators to negotiate access to all their spectrum. Analysts saw it as a defensive measure as SpaceX looks more and more like a potential competitor, even as executives from the carriers and SpaceX have called Starlink Mobile complementary for now.
SpaceX said in its IPO filing last week that while Starlink Mobile is expected to be most impactful for “customers in remote areas uncovered by terrestrial mobile networks,” as its constellation grows and capacity improves, “we will compete to be the preferred connectivity experience to our customers no matter where they are located, whether in rural, suburban, or urban areas.”
Satellite spectrum isn’t auctioned like terrestrial spectrum and is usually shared, but the FCC reaffirmed the exclusivity of certain bands in a decision last month. That included Globalstar’s “Big LEO” 1.6/2.4 GHz spectrum.
Amazon is also behind schedule on its Leo constellation, which it blamed partly on delayed launches, and has asked the FCC to waive or extend a July deadline to have more than 1,600 satellites in orbit. The company said in the filing it had more than 90 launch missions currently scheduled.
