TerreStar Corporation (TSTR), formerly Motient Corp. (MNCP - 2000–2007) and ''American Mobile Satellite Corp.'' (AMSC - 1988–2000), was the controlling shareholder of ''

TerreStar Networks TerreStar Networks, a majority owned subsidiary of TerreStar Corporation (''TSTR''), is a next generation, wholesale mobile communications provider launching the first integrated satellite terrestrial service with the world's first satellite-terr ...

Inc.'', ''TerreStar National Services, Inc.'' and ''TerreStar Global Ltd.'', and a shareholder of

SkyTerra SkyTerra (SKYT), formerly Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV or MSVLP), was a Reston, Virginia company that developed telecommunications systems that integrate satellite and terrestrial radio communication technologies into one system. In March 2010, th ...

Communications. ''TerreStar Networks'' was a

Reston, Virginia Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia and a principal city of the Washington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Reston's population was 63,226. Founded in 1964, Reston was influenced by the Garden City moveme ...

-based company that operated integrated

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...

and terrestrial

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

systems. The company declared bankruptcy in 2010 and is now owned by

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV ...

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its se ...

was a spin-off of American Mobile Satellite Corp.

TerreStar-1

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy-l ...

launched

TerreStar-1 TerreStar-1 is an American communications satellite which was operated by TerreStar Corporation. It was constructed by Space Systems/Loral, based on the LS-1300S bus, and carries E/ F band (IEEE S band) transponders which will be used to prov ...

on the morning of July 1, 2009. With a launch mass of 6,910 kg, it has been deemed "the largest commercial

telecommunications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

ever launched." It was built by

Space Systems/Loral SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies. SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial cust ...

and was launched from the

Guiana Space Center The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximate ...

with an

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads into ...

rocket in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

. TerreStar-1 with the plan of providing mobile voice, messaging and data communications services to North America. Terrestar system is based on GMR standard.

Terrestrial network

On January 14, 2010, TerreStar announced that the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

had approved the company's deployment of a terrestrial wireless network using the same S-band frequencies used by TerreStar-1.

Bankruptcy Restructuring with EchoStar

In October 2010, TerreStar filed for a "prepackaged" bankruptcy, led by its largest secured creditor, EchoStar. Together the secured creditors exchanged $940 million of debt for about 97 percent of the company. The plan, along with $75 million of

debtor-in-possession financing Debtor-in-possession financing or DIP financing is a special form of financing provided for companies in financial distress, typically during restructuring under corporate bankruptcy law (such as Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US or CCAA in Canada). ...

, was approved in November 2010. In December 2010, an NPO called "

A Human Right A Human Right is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free basic internet and phone access to developing countries, and to citizens of countries whose government has cut off or restricted internet access. It was discontinued in 2016. ...

" mounted an effort to buy the satellite for use over Africa, with basic free internet service for those who don't have it, and internet access for nations that have cut off international internet connections. After successfully bidding $1.375 billion for the acquisition of the

satellite in a bankruptcy-court auction,

on August 22, 2011, asked the

to let the company utilize the wireless spectrum of TerreStar to offer its own

wireless broadband Wireless broadband is telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term comprises both fixed and mobile broadband. The term broadband Originally the word " ...

service.

References

External links

Terrestar Corporation

TerreStar NetworksTerrestar GlobalNSDDC Master Catalog - TerreStar 1 - 2009-035AAT&T Integrated Cellular-Satellite SolutionAT&T Announces Agreement with TerreStar to Offer Integrated Cellular/Satellite Solution

Buy This Satellite
- website for

* Companies based in Reston, Virginia Satellite telephony Defunct mobile phone companies of the United States Dish Network Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011 {{US-telecom-company-stub

TerreStar-1

Terrestrial network

Bankruptcy Restructuring with EchoStar

See also

References

External links