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In 2007 Globalstar satellites started experiencing noticable problems, being the result of their unexpected S-band amplifiers degradation. The reason of the degradation is not known for certain, but there have been speculations that it might have been caused by radiation when the companies satellites pass through the so-called South Atlantic Anomaly.
What has this meant for users? The S-band antennas are used for establishing two-way voice and data connections. Because of the problems, users started having trouble placing calls through Globalstar satellite phones and encountering frequent dropped calls. At the same time the one-way "simplex" data services have been unaffected. (Globalstar has intensified services related to this type of transmission, releasing the SPOT satellite tracking device.)
Still in 2007 Globalstar launched 8 spare satellites to "patch" the network. Users are able to track the location of these satellites using an online tool. This allows to predict when one or more unaffected satellites will be overhead at the users intended geographic location. The tool is called OSAT (Optimum Satellite Availability Tool) and is available at: http://calltimes.globalstarusa.com/.
Globalstar has declared that it will be able to keep its first generation satellite constellation operational until the second generation satellites are available for service, which is planned for summer 2010.
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