Jun 10 1999
From The Space Library
A Boeing Delta II rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying four Globalstar cellular telephone satellites. Counting this launch, Globalstar Inc. had placed in orbit 24 of the 32 satellites the company needed to begin regional cellular phone service. The company had planned to begin offering global cellular service in the latter part of 1998, but in September 1998, a failed launch destroyed a dozen satellites aboard a Ukrainian Zenit II rocket. Globalstar had launched its first eight satellites on Delta II rockets, during February and April 1998, and 12 more satellites, early in 1999, on three Russian Soyuz rockets. Globalstar was competing with its industry rival Iridium World Communications Inc., which had placed a complete constellation of 66 satellites in orbit and had begun offering global cellular service before the end of 1998. To meet Globalstar's launch demands over the summer of 1999, Boeing had increased the pace of manufacturing at its Pueblo, Colorado, rocket factory. In addition, Boeing brought 50 to 70 workers from its Delta launch team at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to join its Cape Canaveral workforce in Florida.
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