Amazon to Buy Globalstar for $11.57 Billion in Satellite Push That Pulls Apple Into Its Orbit
Amazon will acquire Globalstar for about $11.57 billion and inherit the company's iPhone satellite partnership, accelerating its Starlink challenge and its rebranded Amazon Leo constellation.
Overview
Amazon announced on April 14 that it has agreed to acquire satellite operator Globalstar in a deal valued at roughly $11.57 billion, folding a legacy mobile-satellite provider and its iPhone connectivity partnership into the e-commerce giant’s rebranded Amazon Leo constellation. The transaction, reported by CNBC, marks Amazon’s most aggressive move yet to challenge SpaceX’s Starlink and gives it an immediate foothold in the direct-to-device satellite market.
Deal Terms
Under the agreement, Globalstar shareholders will receive $90 per share, payable either in cash or in Amazon stock at a fixed exchange ratio of roughly 0.32 Amazon shares per Globalstar share, according to CNBC. Cash consideration is capped at 40% of outstanding shares, meaning a significant portion of Globalstar investors will end up holding Amazon equity after the deal closes. A controlling group led by Thermo, which owns about 57.6% of Globalstar’s common stock, has already approved the transaction by written consent, so no further shareholder vote is required. The transaction is expected to close in 2027.
What Amazon Is Buying
Globalstar currently operates more than 24 satellites in low Earth orbit and has agreements to procure more than 50 additional spacecraft, according to TechCrunch. Alongside the fleet, Amazon inherits ground infrastructure and mobile satellite services spectrum licenses with global authorizations, which are the scarce resource underpinning direct-to-device connectivity.
The acquisition also injects operational experience into Amazon Leo, the service Amazon recently rebranded from Project Kuiper. Amazon has deployed roughly 200 satellites so far against a planned constellation of more than 3,200, and it has asked the FCC for an extension on its regulatory deadline to launch 1,600 satellites by July 2026, TechCrunch reported. By comparison, Starlink currently operates more than 10,000 satellites serving roughly 150 countries.
The Apple Angle
One of the most consequential elements of the deal is an accompanying agreement with Apple. Amazon will continue providing satellite connectivity for iPhone and Apple Watch features currently carried by Globalstar’s network, including emergency text messaging, roadside assistance and location sharing on iPhone 14 and newer devices in select regions, according to TechCrunch. Apple is not a bystander in the arrangement: the iPhone maker took a roughly 20% stake in Globalstar in 2024 as part of a $1.5 billion investment to help expand the constellation and ground infrastructure, a relationship reported by CNBC.
That prior stake means Apple is effectively ratifying Amazon as the successor partner for iPhone satellite services, an outcome that hands Amazon a ready-made consumer hook for its nascent Leo network and denies the same to SpaceX, which has pursued its own direct-to-device business through a partnership with T-Mobile.
Strategic Context
Amazon has framed the Globalstar acquisition as a way to add direct-to-device services to future generations of its low Earth orbit constellation. Amazon Leo’s next-generation satellites, designed to support expanded direct-to-device connectivity, are slated to begin deploying in 2028, according to TechCrunch. The deal compresses that roadmap by giving Amazon an operational D2D service it can market from day one rather than waiting years for its own direct-to-phone hardware to reach orbit.
The strategic logic also reflects how heavily the LEO broadband market has consolidated around spectrum rather than bandwidth. Mobile satellite services licenses, particularly those suitable for unmodified smartphones, are limited and largely spoken for, making Globalstar’s allocations a more valuable asset than its modest satellite count would otherwise suggest.
What We Don’t Know
Neither company has disclosed detailed executive commentary on the transaction beyond the basic deal announcement, and the closing timeline leaves ample room for regulatory review. Antitrust and FCC scrutiny will be central given Amazon’s size, its existing Kuiper FCC license and the competitive stakes in satellite broadband. It is also unclear how the deal will affect Globalstar’s existing commercial customers outside the Apple partnership, or how Amazon plans to integrate Globalstar’s ground infrastructure with its own Kuiper customer terminal and gateway roadmap. Finally, the agreement’s structure, capping cash at 40% of shares, creates a transitional period in which former Globalstar holders will be Amazon shareholders watching the integration unfold from the inside.