Globalstar is taking its ground station expansion program to Alaska.

The Apple-backed satellite operator this week announced the deployment of new ground station equipment in Talkeetna, Alaska, to support the expansion of its mobile satellite system and services.

This is the firm's first installation at this existing teleport, operated by Alaskan satellite communications firm MicroCom. Globalstar is deploying two new six-meter tracking antennas.

Globalstar is also expanding its existing Alaskan ground station in Wasilla to add two additional six-meter tracking antennas.

"Your ability to stay connected shouldn’t stop just because your terrestrial network did," said L. Barbee Ponder, Globalstar general counsel and VP of regulatory affairs. "With Globalstar, you remain connected no matter where your business ventures or personal wonderings may take you – even across Alaska and the Great Northwest."

The expansion is part of a global initiative to deploy more than 90 additional tracking antennas supporting its third-generation C-3 mobile satellite system across 35 ground stations spanning 25 countries and territories.

Ground station expansion work has started at sites in Estonia; Clifton, Texas; Singapore; Castilla La Mancha, Spain; Bihoro, Japan; Nemea, Greece; and High River in Alberta and Smiths Falls in Ontario, Canada.

Launched in 1991 as a joint venture of Loral Corporation and Qualcomm, Globalstar's first-generation constellation consists of 48 LEO satellites, with an additional four satellites in orbit as spares, while its second-generation constellation comprises 24 spacecraft.

Globalstar counts Apple as an investor, which uses the satellite firm's services to power some direct-to-cell services on its iPhones.

The satellite firm recently tapped Australian Edge data center firm DXN to deliver three prefabricated modules to Maui, Hawaii, by the end of 2025.

Globalstar also recently announced plans to act on its HIBLEO-XL-1 filing, saying the new system will include numerous new satellites, orbital shells, and frequency bands beyond its existing licensed L, S, and C-Band frequencies.

MicroCom owns and operates the 8-acre Talkeetna Alaska Teleport in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, some 120km north of Anchorage. The site includes a 5,000 sq ft (465 sqm), 550kW data center.

Originally built in 1969 by RCA for use by the federal government, the company purchased the teleport facility in 1973. The site became part of RCA's Alascom, which was later purchased by Pacific Telecom in 1979 and again by AT&T in 1995. The site was decommissioned in the 1990s and left idle until Talkeetna Alaska Teleport purchased the site from AT&T in early 2019.