Amazon in Talks to Acquire Globalstar in $9B Satellite Deal — Apple Stake Complicates It
Amazon is in advanced talks to acquire Globalstar, the satellite communications company behind Apple's Emergency SOS feature, in a deal valued at approximately $9 billion. The reported negotiations mark a significant escalation in Amazon's push to challenge SpaceX's dominant Starlink network with its own low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet service.
What Is Globalstar?
Globalstar operates a constellation of 24 LEO satellites providing mobile satellite services across more than 120 countries using L-band and S-band spectrum. The company is best known as the infrastructure partner powering Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite — the feature on iPhone 14 and later that lets users contact emergency responders without cellular coverage. Globalstar routes those messages through its ground stations before connecting to local emergency services.
Why Amazon Wants It
Amazon has been building Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper), its own satellite internet constellation, with 212 satellites launched by February 2026 and 20 more launches planned this year. Progress has been steady but slow relative to Starlink's 9,500-satellite head start and 9.2 million subscribers across 155 countries.
Acquiring Globalstar would instantly hand Amazon an operational satellite network, licensed spectrum, and established ground infrastructure — shortcutting years of development. It would also give Amazon a foothold in the emergency communications market that Apple has built into hundreds of millions of iPhones.
The Apple Complication
There is a significant obstacle: Apple owns a 20% stake in Globalstar. In late 2024, Apple invested $400 million for that stake and committed an additional $1.1 billion in infrastructure prepayments to expand Globalstar's network. More critically, Apple has contractual rights to 85% of Globalstar's satellite capacity for iPhone features including Emergency SOS, Messages via Satellite, and Find My location updates.
Any acquisition would require navigating Apple's approval, contractual protections, and the question of whether Apple would remain a minority partner inside an Amazon subsidiary or seek to renegotiate its position entirely. The two companies are already competitors across cloud, devices, media, and retail.
The Satellite Race Heats Up
Starlink dominates LEO internet with a near-monopoly, but the market is attracting serious challengers. A Globalstar acquisition would give Amazon both consumer broadband infrastructure through Leo and Apple's established emergency-use distribution — a two-pronged satellite strategy no other competitor currently holds.
The Bottom Line
No final agreement has been reached and both companies have declined comment, but even the talks signal Amazon's impatience with the organic pace of its satellite build-out. If the deal closes, it would reshape the LEO satellite market and force Apple, SpaceX, and telecoms into a new competitive reality.