Object A

Description

Object A is the first of eight new second-generation satellites for the Globalstar global mobile communications network. This network offers global, digital, real-time voice, data, and fax via a constellation of minisatellites. The constellation operates in a 1410 km orbit inclined at 52 degrees.

Globalstar reserves 85 percent of its network capacity for Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite service, introduced with the iPhone 14 in 2022 and extended across subsequent iPhone generations. The 17 satellites under this contract, built by MDA with buses supplied by Rocket Lab, are intended to sustain and grow that capacity through the middle of the next decade. Each satellite is also expected to support Globalstar’s broader Band 53 terrestrial-spectrum services.

This was Falcon 9’s 678th mission, SpaceX’s 708th mission and the 192nd orbital launch attempt of 2026.