Alcatel Alenia Space has been awarded a 9 million euro ($12.0 million) contract by Globalstar Inc. to upgrade the latter’s Control Network Facility, Alcatel Alenia Space announced April 3.
The upgraded facility will enable Globalstar to monitor and control its second-generation satellite constellation and provide support for satellite operations through 2025. The contract covers several parts of the Globalstar Control Network Facility located separately in California and several Globalstar ground stations worldwide.
The contract comes in addition to one signed in Dec. 2006 for 661 million euros ($883.2 million) from Globalstar to design, manufacture and deliver 48 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, coupled with launch and mission support services. Starting in 2009, these second-generation Globalstar satellites will be launched in clusters of six to eight at a time.
