Amazon Signs $11.57 Billion Deal for Globalstar

Amazon said on 14th April that it will acquire satellite firm Globalstar in an $11.57 billion deal, strengthening its satellite business as it tries to compete more seriously with SpaceX’s Starlink (Reuters, 2026).

Amazon’s satellite ambitions have so far looked more like a project than a position of strength. Buying Globalstar gives it access to an existing satellite constellation, infrastructure, and a faster route into a market where Starlink already has scale, customers, and momentum.

According to Reuters, Globalstar currently operates about two dozen satellites, while Amazon has more than 200 satellites in orbit and plans to deploy around 3,200 low-Earth-orbit satellites by 2029 (Reuters, 2026). Amazon is also under regulatory pressure to have about half that network operational by July 2026, which makes this acquisition look less like expansion for its own sake and more like an attempt to accelerate a lagging buildout.

That urgency is easier to understand once Starlink enters the frame. Reuters reports that Starlink already operates roughly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves more than nine million users worldwide, which means Amazon is not entering an open field here but trying to catch up in one that already has a clear leader (Reuters, 2026).

Amazon has said it is preparing to launch its satellite internet services later this year, so the Globalstar acquisition gives that rollout a much stronger industrial base than it had before. The point is that this is no longer just a story about e-commerce companies casually moving into space. It is a story about connectivity becoming one more front in the larger battle over infrastructure, platforms, and who gets to own the next layer of digital access.