TerreStar Networks, a majority owned subsidiary of

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

(''TSTR''), is a next generation, wholesale mobile communications provider launching the first integrated satellite terrestrial service with the world's first

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 radioisotope ...

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

Overview

TerreStar was to provide a fully integrated and resilient satellite+terrestrial mobile network. This network would leverage TerreStar's

S band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the convention ...

mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum with an advanced all– IP ground-based

open-architecture Open architecture is a type of computer architecture or software architecture intended to make adding, upgrading, and swapping components with other computers easy. For example, the IBM PC, Amiga 500 and Apple IIe have an open architecture support ...

terrestrial network to provide voice, data and video services to end-users – from government officials and emergency first responders to adventure enthusiasts and consumers in rural communities. TerreStar used commercial

chipset In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are ...

technologies from

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...

and

Infineon Infineon Technologies AG is a German semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1999, when the semiconductor operations of the former parent company Siemens AG were spun off. Infineon has about 50,280 employees and is one of the ten largest semicond ...

to embed satellite communications capabilities into smartphones that can be carried as everyday phones. Genus was the world's first (and only) Windows Mobile-based quad-band

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

and tri-band

WCDMA The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...

HSPA HSPA may refer to: * High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology * Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association Education * High School Proficiency Assessment * Humphrey School of Public Affairs The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Aff ...

smartphone with integrated all-IP satellite-terrestrial voice and data capabilities, a touch screen and a full

QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created f ...

keyboard. It resembled the now classic Blackberry design with a keyboard under the screen, used an internal antenna for terrestrial communications but required a rather large antenna for satellite communications.

World's Largest Satellite

On July 1, 2009, from French Guiana in South America, TerreStar launched its

geosynchronous A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

satellite,

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 provid ...

. TerreStar-1 is the world's largest and most advanced commercial communications satellite that will provide communications services across the continental United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii and Alaska. The satellite's size along with the extra power and sensitivity of its antenna allows it to communicate to conventionally sized mobile devices. On July 14, 2009, TerreStar-1 successfully reached its orbital slot (at 111 degrees) in the

arc and successfully deployed its 18-meter 2 GHz S Band reflector. On July 20, 2009, TerreStar completed the first end-to-end satellite-terrestrial phone call over TerreStar-1.

Bankruptcy

On October 19, 2010, TerreStar Networks Inc filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On March 29, 2012, the bankruptcy reorganization became effective and all common shares were cancelled with no value. The company was sold out of bankruptcy to

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. A ...

Corp.

References

External links

Terrestar Corporation

TerreStar Networks
*http://www.tvtechnology.com/eng/0100/industry-canada-decision-opens--ghz-spectrum-for-aws-/mss/273888 *http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/terrestar-solutions-appoints-former-verizon-wireless-presidentceo-dan-mead-to-board-of-directors-590319251.html *https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf09820.html *https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf09815.html Companies based in Reston, Virginia {{US-telecom-company-stub fi:TerreStar