Globalstar successfully launched four communications satellites into low-Earth orbit early Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The four Space Systems/Loral-built satellites were carried aloft at 9:32 a.m. ET aboard a Soyuz-Ikar rocket.
Globalstar announced Monday that all four satellites had successfully separated from the upper stage of the rocket at an altitude of 571 miles (920 kilometers). Globalstar engineers will raise the satellites to an operational altitude of 877 miles (1,414 kilometers) over the next several weeks.
This was Globalstar's eleventh successful launch and now brings to 44 the number of its satellites orbiting Earth.
Globalstar, an international partnership led by Loral Space & Communications, plans two more launches in November and December to complete its constellation of 48 active satellites, along with four orbiting spares.
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