FCC clears Amazon's $11.5 billion Globalstar buyout — Apple's 20% stake and the iPhone SOS service included
From the Space digest for Oct 29, 2026
What happened: Mashdigi reports the FCC has approved Amazon Leo's $11.5 billion acquisition of Globalstar, the satellite operator behind the iPhone's emergency SOS feature. The deal is reported to include taking over Apple's roughly 20% stake in Globalstar and the arrangement that provides iPhone Satellite SOS, positioning Amazon Leo as a rival in satellite-to-phone service.
What's genuinely new: The approval now carries a named asset breakdown beyond the buyout itself — Amazon acquires Apple's roughly 20% equity stake in Globalstar and inherits the partnership behind the iPhone's satellite emergency messaging, the first time the Apple stake and the SOS service have appeared as specific parts of the transfer alongside the already-reported FCC clearance.
Watch: What Amazon does with Globalstar's consumer business and the Apple SOS relationship, how the constellation's direct-to-phone capability builds on the spectrum already cleared for it, and the deployment make-up schedule against the open 2026-vs-2027 service-start conflict.
Sources Mashdigi