Amazon Globalstar Deal: $11.6bn Bet on Satellite Internet War
QUICK READS
- Amazon agreed to acquire Globalstar in an $11.6 billion deal on April 14, offering shareholders $90 per share in cash or Amazon stock.
- The deal hands Amazon Globalstar’s satellite fleet, spectrum licences, and a key partnership with Apple for iPhone Emergency SOS services.
- Amazon has deployed only 243 of the 3,236 satellites it promised to put into low-Earth orbit by 2019.
- SpaceX’s Starlink already operates roughly 10,000 satellites, giving it a commanding lead in coverage and scale.
- Analysts warn the deal does not solve Amazon’s core problem: a crippling shortage of rocket launches to build out its network fast enough.
Amazon Globalstar Deal: Amazon just made its biggest move yet in the race for space-based internet. The company agreed on Tuesday to acquire Globalstar the satellite operator that powers Apple’s Emergency SOS feature in an $11.6 billion deal. It is a bold, expensive statement of intent. But analysts say it does not solve the problem that has haunted Amazon’s satellite ambitions since day one.
Rockets. There are simply not enough of them.
A Deal Seven Years in the Making
Amazon first announced its satellite internet ambitions in 2019. It promised to deploy 3,236 satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO) the band of space roughly 200 to 2,000 kilometres above the Earth, close enough to deliver fast, low-latency internet to the ground below.
Seven years later, Amazon has deployed just 243 of those 3,236 satellites.The July 2026 regulatory deadline to have roughly half in orbit is weeks away. Amazon has already asked the US Federal Communications Commission for a two-year extension. The FCC has not yet ruled.
The Amazon Globalstar deal is partly an answer to that pressure. Amazon will acquire Globalstar’s satellite operations, infrastructure, and spectrum licences with global authorisations. Amazon plans to deploy its own direct-to-device satellite system starting in 2028.
The deal values Globalstar at about 40 times its 2026 revenue a multiple that signals just how much Amazon believes the satellite internet prize is worth paying for, even at a steep premium.
The Amazon Globalstar Deal Comes With an Apple Bonus
The most underappreciated part of this acquisition is not the satellites. It is the Apple relationship.
Amazon and Apple have announced an agreement for Amazon Leo to power satellite services for iPhone and Apple Watch, including Emergency SOS via satellite. Apple owned 20% of Globalstar.
That is not a minor footnote. Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite has been one of the most-used satellite consumer features ever launched. It is built into hundreds of millions of iPhones worldwide. By acquiring Globalstar, Amazon inherits that relationship and extends it to its own Amazon Leo network.
Amazon will continue to support iPhone and Apple Watch models currently using Globalstar’s existing and planned upcoming low-Earth orbit satellite constellations and collaborate with Apple on future satellite services using Amazon Leo’s expanded satellite network.
This gives Amazon Leo something Starlink does not yet have at scale: a direct path into consumer pockets through the world’s most valuable hardware ecosystem. Every iPhone user already using Emergency SOS is, in effect, a potential Amazon Leo customer.
Why $11.6 Billion Still Does Not Close the Gap with Starlink
The space internet market is lucrative. Potential customers range from airlines and cruise ships to remote businesses and the billions of people globally without reliable broadband. Africa, with its vast underserved rural population, sits squarely at the centre of that opportunity.
But the deal comes with a serious structural caveat. SpaceX has deployed Starlink at a rapid pace using its own rockets, building a commanding lead in scale and coverage with a network of 10,000 satellites. Amazon, by contrast, has been forced to use SpaceX’s own Falcon 9 rockets for some of its launches a dependency that underlines just how far behind it remains.
“Unless Amazon can solve deployment speed and launch access, the gap remains structural, not just numerical,” said Gregory Radisic, senior teaching fellow at Bond University.
Amazon’s long-term answer is Blue Origin the rocket company founded by Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket made its debut flight in January 2025. But it has yet to reach the launch rate needed to close Amazon’s satellite deficit at speed.
“Even with Globalstar, Amazon is still playing catch-up on deployment scale and cadence,” Radisic added.
The Bigger Picture: A Battle for Global Connectivity’s Infrastructure
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, offered a broader read: “What’s certain is that the space race is heating up and big money is expected to be ploughed into this industry over the coming years.”
He is right. And for investors and markets watchers, that is the real story here. This is not just a tech acquisition. It is a signal that the battle for who controls the infrastructure of global connectivity the pipes through which the next billion internet users come online is entering its most expensive phase yet.
For Africa specifically, the outcome of that battle matters enormously. Whoever wins the satellite internet race sets the terms for connectivity costs across the continent for the next decade. Amazon bringing Apple’s ecosystem and Globalstar’s spectrum into one network raises the competitive pressure on Starlink. More competition in LEO internet is, ultimately, better for the underserved.
Deal Snapshot: Amazon Globalstar Acquisition
| Item | Detail |
| Deal Value | ~$11.6 billion |
| Price Per Share | $90 cash or 0.321 Amazon shares |
| Premium to Pre-Rumour Price | ~117% above late-October 2025 price |
| Revenue Multiple | ~40x 2026 projected revenue |
| Expected Close | 2027 |
| Regulatory Approval Needed | FCC (chair said “very open-minded”) |
| Amazon Satellites Deployed | 243 of 3,236 promised |
| Starlink Satellites in Orbit | ~10,000 |
| Apple Partnership | Emergency SOS + future iPhone/Apple Watch satellite services |
| Amazon Direct-to-Device Launch | Planned 2 |
