The Federal Communications Commission has concluded its review of Amazon Leo’s 11.5 billion dollar acquisition of Globalstar and approved the transfer of the satellite operator’s licences, the regulator said. The order, DA 26-1160 from the Space Bureau together with the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Office of International Affairs, also covers roughly 25 megahertz of Globalstar’s internationally harmonised mobile satellite spectrum, and it denied a petition by Yippy, a former Globalstar partner, to block the deal.
Globalstar operates about two dozen low earth orbit satellites and serves more than 780,000 end user devices in more than 120 countries, but its value to Amazon is concentrated in one customer: Apple, which accounts for about 63 percent of Globalstar’s 2025 revenue through the iPhone’s Emergency SOS and satellite messaging services, and which holds a 20 percent stake in Globalstar that Amazon will acquire on closing. Amazon Leo has separately launched more than 300 satellites since April 2025 toward a planned constellation of about 3,200 by 2029, and has committed more than 10 billion dollars to the programme.
The order also lets Amazon use, once the transaction closes, the market access grant the Space Bureau recently gave Globalstar’s C-3 system, a planned constellation of 48 operational satellites plus six spares designed for direct to device service. The FCC said the combination should enhance data coverage in unserved and underserved areas, strengthen emergency communications and increase use of mobile satellite spectrum, and found no material public interest harms. Chairman Brendan Carr said the approval empowers Leo to deliver next generation satellite broadband and increase competition.
Approval is not closing. The deal, announced in April, was expected to complete in 2027, and Amazon’s separate application for a direct to device system of more than 5,105 satellites, with deployment from 2028, remains under FCC review. What the order settles is that the fastest route into direct to device, buying the incumbent that already serves the iPhone, is open.