Amazon Eyes $9B Globalstar Deal to Take On SpaceX's Starlink

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Amazon（AMZN） is in advanced talks to buy satellite operator Globalstar for about $9 billion. This would be the biggest step up in the race to build a commercial low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite network that can compete with SpaceX's Starlink. On the news, Globalstar shares rose to their highest level in 18 years, jumping 12.3% in premarket trade. On the other hand, Amazon shares fell nearly 2% as investors weighed the price tag against the fact that the deal still has a lot of structural issues to work out.

The time is right on. On the same day that the Amazon-Globalstar talks were announced, SpaceX secretly filed for a U.S. IPO. Analysts think that Starlink is the main reason for SpaceX's possible $1.75-trillion valuation. There are now two of the biggest business space infrastructure plays in history coming right at each other.

What Amazon Is Actually Buying

Globalstar is more than just a satellite business; it also owns spectrum and infrastructure. The company based in Covington, Louisiana, manages a group of low-earth orbit (LEO) communication satellites that offer talk, data, and asset-tracking services to businesses, governments, and individuals around the world. Its L-band spectrum holdings are especially valuable. These are licensed, widely recognized radio frequencies that are hard to get on your own and require a lot of time and paperwork. They are the basis of reliable satellite communications.

Amazon's Leo program, which used to be called Project Kuiper and now has 180 satellites in space as part of a plan to have a constellation of 3,200, would get more spectrum depth and operational infrastructure from Globalstar that would take years to build on its own. The deal would make it much faster for Leo to become a business.

Starlink, on the other hand, runs more than 9,500 satellites, serves more than nine million users around the world, and brings in about 50–80% of SpaceX's total income. There is a huge difference between Amazon's 180-satellite deployment and Starlink's operating scale. Globalstar's assets won't close the gap by themselves, but they do get rid of important bottlenecks.

The Apple Complication

There are no smooth deals concerning Globalstar. Apple owns 20% of the company thanks to a $1.5 billion investment in 2024 that paid for more satellite capacity to power emergency connection features on all iPhone models. Apple has a financial stake in this deal and is strategically depending on it because Globalstar's network powers its SOS feature.

In order for Amazon to buy something, Apple has to agree to either leave the deal or stay involved. This creates a situation with three parties: two of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple, and a satellite provider. The FT story said that these "complexities" are still being negotiated after "lengthy talks." This language suggests that the deal is real but not yet finished. Amazon wouldn't say anything, and Globalstar didn't answer either.

The Starlink Benchmark Amazon Is Chasing

SpaceX's IPO file, which is secret but confirmed, makes it clear who Amazon is up against. Starlink's customers include regular people, businesses, and even U.S. intelligence agencies through its secret Starshield version. This gives it a wide range of ways to make money that Leo hasn't been able to create yet. The estimate that SpaceX is worth $1.75 trillion is mostly based on Starlink. Investors will use this number as a business standard to judge Leo's progress once Amazon's plans for satellites are made public.

The competition goes beyond Starlink. Canada's Telesat Lightspeed constellation is another serious player, and the LEO broadband industry is attracting finance from numerous directions. The main commercial battleground—high-throughput, low-latency global broadband for consumers, corporations, and governments—is between Starlink's operational dominance and Leo's ambition.

A finalized Globalstar acquisition would turn Leo from an ambitious construction project into an operating platform with genuine spectrum assets and infrastructure, contrasting a satellite network on paper with a credible business foundation. Amazon can afford the $9 billion price tag, but the Apple negotiation is risky. Any Apple declaration on its Globalstar stake will indicate whether this transaction closes. It would make the satellite broadband competition landscape more appealing for SpaceX investors before its IPO.