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 ''Ter ...

(''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 an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. 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 o ...

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

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 conventiona ...

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 2000 and Apple IIe have an open architecture supp ...

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 on one or more integrated circuits that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. The chipset is usually found on the motherboard of computers. Chips ...

technologies from

Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...

and

Infineon Infineon Semiconductor solutions is the largest microcontroller manufacturer in the world, as well as Germany's largest semiconductor manufacturer. It is also the leading automotive semiconductor manufacturer globally. Infineon had roughly 58,0 ...

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 family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

and tri-band

WCDMA The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses wideband code-division multiple access (W- CDMA) radio access technology to offer greater spectral efficienc ...

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, an American public policy school * Hunter Sch ...

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 letter row of the keyboard: . The QWERTY design is based on a layout included in the Sh ...

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 L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...

Corp.

References

External links

*
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