SpaceX launches Globalstar communications satellite

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket on a secretive mission in the early hours of Sunday morning. Liftoff occurred at 12:27 AM EDT (04:27 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, with the rocket’s official mission being the deployment of a single replacement satellite for communications operator Globalstar.

The Globalstar-2 FM15 spacecraft was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space as part of Globalstar’s second-generation constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites, according to NASA Space Flight.

While 24 of its sister craft were deployed between 2010 and 2013, it has remained on Earth until now as a ground spare. Now, it is launching to be on hand to reinforce the network as the existing satellites begin to show their age.

Globalstar uses its fleet of satellites to provide voice and data communications worldwide. The company’s first-generation constellation was deployed between 1998 and 2000 and consisted of 48 operational satellites plus on-orbit spares. The second-generation system was originally designed with 32 satellites but downsized to the 24 that are currently in orbit.

These second-generation satellites, including FM15, are based on Thales’ Extended Lifetime Bus 1000 (ELiTeBus-1000) platform and have an operational life expectancy of 15 years. The 24 satellites already in orbit were launched in groups of six atop Soyuz-2-1a/Fregat rockets, which flew from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Globalstar plans to replace these satellites with a third-generation spacecraft which will be phased in from 2025.  Earlier this year the company awarded a contract to Canada’s MDA Corporation to build the first 17 replacement satellites.