Globalstar had asked the International Telecommunications Union’s Radio Communications Board (ITU/RCB) for an extension to its launch obligations. Globalstar, now with Amazon as a major buyer/investor, is required to launch a French-licensed fleet called HIBLEO-X/HIBLEO-4 which serves mobile satellite services.

Globalstar HIBLEO-X Satellites are under construction and being built under a strict timeline by the FCC.

The satellites were being built by Thales Alenia Space at a facility in L’Aquila, Italy. But the factory was badly damaged by an earthquake back in April 2009 which affected the Abruzzo region. L’Aquilia was at the epicentre of the quake and which killed 308 people across the region.

The earthquake had major implications on the production process of electronic equipment used for satellites and ground stations, thereby directly impacting the institutional and commercial customer projects contracted directly or indirectly to Thales Alenia Space.

Globalstar had used the earthquake to request an extension to its launch obligations arguing that it had suffered a ‘force majeure’ because the factory was destroyed and some satellites damaged.

But the ITU/RCB said no. The FCC decided that an earthquake destroying a satellite manufacturing facility with your satellites inside was NOT a compelling reason to extend the timelines, and that Globalstar basically failed to perform risk assessment and due diligence of their contractors chosen manufacturing site.

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Categories: Articles, Satellite

Tags: FCC, globalstar, ITU, satellite