There are two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The home team is down by one run.

Up comes the cleanup hitter, the one who's been carrying the team's weight for most of the season.

The fans go nuts, but despite the apparent confidence, deep in their hearts they worry. They fear a big strikeout, a failure under pressure.

Such is the arena for satellite telecommunications company Globalstar, which officially began a limited rollout of its service at an industry conference last weekend in Geneva.

London-based ICO Global Communications went bankrupt soon after.

Globalstar is the next player up in the game -- the one who can turn things around for the ailing satellite communications industry -- and it seems to have the fundamentals down pat, with

• a network of 36 low-Earth orbiting satellites, enough to run the network.
• financing in order.
• 223 service providers signed up to sell Globalstar service.
• and, unlike Iridium, a full stock of equipment -- including three kinds of mobile phones, a desktop phone, and a payphone.

The analysts, who have every reason to be skeptical of satellite start-ups given the fate of Iridium and ICO, sound hopeful. Merrill Lynch, for instance, upgraded its long-term rating for Globalstar from accumulate to buy in September.

The hopefulness may stem in part from Globalstar's phased, low-risk service launch process. For at least the next month or two, only close customers will have a chance to purchase phones. This gives the company time to shore up any problems with inventory or customer service.

The official announcement, which was made at the Telecom convention in Geneva on October 10, has been billed as the "launch" of its service.

But Airtouch, Globalstar's North American service provider, has already signed agreements to distribute a small amount of phones to some of its close customers. Those phones will be distributed over the next 10 days, according to Airtouch.

Perhaps the odds are against any company in this fledgling industry, but Globalstar seems satisfied to live by the words of the immortal Yogi Berra, "It's not over 'til it's over."