--- title: Amazon acquires Globalstar for $11.6B and targets... description: Amazon has agreed to acquire Globalstar for $11.6 billion, gaining L-band and S-band spectrum licenses, 24 ground station gateways, and infrastructure across... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-acquires-globalstar-for-11-6b-and-targets-mid-2026-commercial-launch-for-its-leo-satellite-s-fo6rygviz twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Amazon acquires Globalstar for $11.6B and targets mid-2026 commercial launch for its Leo satellite service | daily.dev og:description: Amazon has agreed to acquire Globalstar for $11.6 billion, gaining L-band and S-band spectrum licenses, 24 ground station gateways, and infrastructure across... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-acquires-globalstar-for-11-6b-and-targets-mid-2026-commercial-launch-for-its-leo-satellite-s-fo6rygviz og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/fO6RygVIZ.png og:image:alt: Amazon acquires Globalstar for $11.6B and targets mid-2026 commercial launch for its Leo satellite service og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Amazon acquires Globalstar for $11.6B and targets mid-2026 commercial launch for its Leo satellite service **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 3 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Amazon has agreed to acquire Globalstar for $11.6 billion, gaining L-band and S-band spectrum licenses, 24 ground station gateways, and infrastructure across 120+ countries. The deal also includes a separate agreement with Apple for Amazon Leo to continue powering Emergency SOS and Find My satellite features. Amazon Leo, rebranded from Project Kuiper in November 2025, entered enterprise beta in April 2026 with a mid-2026 commercial launch target. Three terminal tiers are planned: Leo Nano (100 Mbps), Leo Pro (400 Mbps, under $400), and Leo Ultra (1 Gbps). Amazon currently has 180–241 satellites in orbit against an FCC requirement of 1,618 by July 2026, and has filed for a two-year extension. Starlink remains far ahead with 10,000+ satellites and $10.6B in 2025 revenue. Amazon's near-term competitive advantage is expected to come from enterprise and government segments via AWS relationships rather than the consumer market. ## Content Amazon is making an aggressive push into satellite internet, combining an $11.6 billion acquisition with an accelerating deployment schedule as it tries to close the gap with SpaceX's Starlink. ## The Globalstar deal Amazon has agreed to acquire Globalstar in a deal valued at approximately $11.6 billion, expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory approval. The acquisition gives Amazon something it would have taken years to build on its own: globally harmonized L-band and S-band spectrum licenses, a ground station network across 24 gateways, and operational infrastructure in 120+ countries. Globalstar currently powers Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite and Find My features on iPhones and Apple Watches. As part of the deal, Amazon and Apple signed a separate agreement for Amazon Leo to continue providing those satellite safety services going forward. The bigger play is direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity — the ability to reach mobile phones without cellular towers. Amazon plans to launch its own next-generation D2D satellite system in 2028, capable of delivering voice, data, and messaging directly to handsets. Acquiring Globalstar's existing D2D network compresses what would otherwise be years of spectrum licensing and infrastructure buildout into a single transaction. ## Amazon Leo's current state The service, rebranded from Project Kuiper to Amazon Leo in November 2025, entered enterprise beta on April 8, 2026. Commercial availability is targeted for mid-2026. Three terminal tiers are planned: - **Leo Nano** — 100 Mbps, consumer-focused - **Leo Pro** — 400 Mbps, priced under $400 - **Leo Ultra** — 1 Gbps, enterprise flagship Beta partners include Verizon, AT&T, Vodafone, JetBlue, and NASA. The satellite count is where things get complicated. Amazon currently has somewhere between 180 and 241 satellites in orbit — sources vary slightly — against an FCC requirement of 1,618 by July 30, 2026. Amazon has filed for a two-year extension and contracted 22 additional launches across SpaceX Falcon 9, Blue Origin New Glenn, and other vehicles. The longer-term goal is 3,200 satellites deployed by 2029. ## The Starlink gap Starlink is not standing still. It operates 10,000+ satellites, serves over nine million subscribers, and posted $10.6 billion in revenue in 2025. A potential IPO — floated at a $1.75 trillion valuation — would give SpaceX even more capital to extend that lead. Amazon is betting that spectrum, distribution partnerships, and AWS integration can carve out a viable position even without matching Starlink's constellation size. Whether that's enough to matter in the consumer market is an open question. The enterprise and government segments, where Amazon already has relationships through AWS, seem like the more realistic near-term opportunity. The Globalstar acquisition is the most concrete sign yet that Amazon is treating this as a serious long-term business rather than a side project. Whether it can execute on the deployment timeline — and satisfy regulators on both the FCC deadline and the acquisition itself — will determine how competitive Amazon Leo actually becomes. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Amazon in talks to buy satellite operator Globalstar](https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-in-talks-to-buy-satellite-operator-globalstar-m2ij2zka7) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Amazon Leo has enough satellites to take on Starlink](https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-leo-has-enough-satellites-to-take-on-starlink-ugijgewug) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-acquires-globalstar-for-11-6b-and-targets-mid-2026-commercial-launch-for-its-leo-satellite-s-fo6rygviz) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Amazon acquires Globalstar for $11.6B and targets mid-2026 commercial launch for its Leo satellite service","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-acquires-globalstar-for-11-6b-and-targets-mid-2026-commercial-launch-for-its-leo-satellite-s-fo6rygviz","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-acquires-globalstar-for-11-6b-and-targets-mid-2026-commercial-launch-for-its-leo-satellite-s-fo6rygviz"},"datePublished":"2026-04-15T08:49:56.767Z","dateModified":"2026-04-15T08:50:40.937Z","description":"Amazon has agreed to acquire Globalstar for $11.6 billion, gaining L-band and S-band spectrum licenses, 24 ground station gateways, and infrastructure across...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0d474fd9c89bd949aa9953aedb5f77dd?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0d474fd9c89bd949aa9953aedb5f77dd?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/amazon-acquires-globalstar-for-11-6b-and-targets-mid-2026-commercial-launch-for-its-leo-satellite-s-fo6rygviz","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Amazon acquires Globalstar for $11.6B and targets mid-2026 commercial launch for its Leo satellite service"}]} ```