Satellites
Globalstar orbits have an inclination of 52 degrees. Therefore, Globalstar does not cover polar areas, due to the lower orbital inclination.
Globalstar orbits have an orbital height of approximately 1400 km and latency is still relatively low (approximately 60ms). It also does not cover sub-Saharan Africa, nor much of South-East Asia, (see coverage map).
A Globalstar satellite has two body-mounted, Earth-facing arrays. First-generation Globalstars weigh approximately 550 kg, However, the second-generation Globalstar design will gain significant mass.
In 2005, some of the satellites began to reach the limit of their operational lifetime of 7.5 years. In December 2005, Globalstar began to move some of its satellites into a graveyard orbit above LEO.
Read more about this topic: Globalstar
Famous quotes containing the word satellites:
“To the Japanese, Portugal and Russia are neutral enemies, England and America are belligerent enemies, and Germany and her satellites are friendly enemies. They draw very fine distinctions.”
—Jerome Cady, U.S. screenwriter, and Lewis Milestone. Peter Voroshevski (Howard Clinton?)