It had to happen some time, and now it has. Two satellites, an operating Iridium communications satellite, and a defunct Russian satellite, collided in orbit on Feb. 10, 2009, destroying both objects and creating 500 to 600 new pieces of orbital debris, adding to about 18,000 other orbiting pieces of "space junk" softball-sized or larger that routinely are tracked.
Iridium, which owns a fleet of 66 low-earth orbit satellites, expects minor outages, and will move an in-orbit spare into position within 30 days.
Iridium isn't the only satellite communications provider facing at least some issues. Frost & Sullivan compared performance of more than 1,000 calls on Iridium and Globalstar networks, from Northern California and Central Texas.
In initial testing, analysts found that more than 99 percent of calls placed through the
Iridium handset were successfully connected, compared to 51.3 percent of calls from the
Globalstar handset.
Tests also indicate that 98.1 percent of calls on the Iridium handset and 36.2 percent of calls on the Globalstar handset were successfully connected and completed without being dropped during a three-minute period.
Globalstar admits it has a problem with duplex communications (not simplex). "As previously announced, many Globalstar satellites are experiencing an anomaly resulting in degraded performance of the amplifiers for the S-band satellite communications antenna," Globalstar says.
"The anomaly is adversely affecting two-way voice and data services," the company says. "Customer service continues to be available, but at certain times at any given location it may take substantially longer to establish calls and the duration of calls may be limited."
Until the new second-generation Globalstar satellite constellation is operational, Globalstar is offering its Optimum Satellite Availability T-tool (OSAT) on its Internet site, which subscribers may use to predict when one or more unaffected satellites will be overhead at any specific geographic location.
Globalstar has launched eight spare satellites for its existing constellation with a view to reducing the gaps in its two-way voice and data services pending commercial availability of its second-generation satellite constellation, scheduled for initial launch in the second half of 2009.
5 comments:
I try to use Globalstar Trimode 1600, from MALTA (Europe), but it keeps saying "Looking for Service", and this is happening ALMOST EVERY TIME. My friend has one Globalstar like mine, and even when on the open seas, the message is "Looking for Service", he hardly succeeds in making a call.
I simply cannot make a connection in central California with Gloablstar. I get "looking for service" but nothing else. I have not even been able to make a connection on Kaiser Peak (10,000') or Mt Hoffman in Yosemite. My phone is a false hope in my backpack in the Sierras. I watched a ranger using Iridium connect in Evolution Valley and was envious since I cannot get a connection on top of a mountain. Five years ago I could get out almost anywhere. I have paid a monthly fee for essentially no service for the last two years and they have finally agreed not to charge me a monthly fee.
We operate two boats in the gulf of Alaska, both boats have 1600 Globalstar and will be 100 miles offshore for days at a time if were lucky will get 6 minutes of sat phone time every hour .I would never buy this product again. captain Mike
My experience with Globalstar has been identicial to the other comments. Of course, no one has offered to refund the montly fees.
Will just have to complain more loudly.
I'll take those phones off your hands guys. $50 paypal. Thats with the cost of shipping, say USPS priority. Unless you got a lot of accessories then we can go a bit over.
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