Soyuz rocket launch beefs up Globalstar satellite fleet

Six fresh spacecraft for Globalstar's mobile communications satellite fleet were deployed Wednesday by a Russian Soyuz rocket, propping up the company's degraded two-way voice service for more than 400,000 subscribers around the world. The successful launch continued Globalstar's campaign to replace aging satellites launched more than a decade ago. The satellites, each weighing 1,543 pounds at launch, will enter Globalstar's constellation circling a few hundred miles above Earth. Thales Alenia Space assembled the satellites in Rome and built their communications equipment in Toulouse, France. More

(Source: Space Flight Now - Jul 15)