Item 1A. Risk Factors

You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as all of the information in this Report and our other past and future filings with the SEC, in evaluating and understanding us and our business. Additional risks not presently known or that we currently deem immaterial may also impact our business operations and the risks identified below may adversely affect our business in ways we do not currently anticipate. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks.

Risks Related to Our Business

If we fail to obtain, on a timely basis, additional external financing, as well as amendments to and restructuring of our existing debt obligations and amendments to certain other contractual obligations, we may not be able to continue as a going concern.

Our current sources of liquidity include cash on hand ($11.8 million at December 31, 2012), cash flows from operations ($6.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2012), funds available under our Facility Agreement ($0.7 million at December 31, 2012, subject to certain restrictions, see further discussion below in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources), funds available from our Terrapin Opportunity, L.P. (“Terrapin”) equity line agreement ($30.0 million at December 31, 2012, subject to certain conditions precedent, see further discussion below in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources), interest earned from funds previously held in our contingent equity account ($1.1 million at December 31, 2012), and amounts held in our debt service reserve account ($8.9 million at December 31, 2012). These sources of liquidity are not sufficient to meet our existing contractual obligations over the next 12 months. As a result, there is substantial doubt that we can continue as a going concern if we do not raise additional external financing. In order to continue as a going concern, we must obtain additional external financing; amend the Facility Agreement and certain other contractual obligations; and restructure the 5.75% Convertible Senior Unsecured Notes (the “5.75% Notes”). In addition, substantial uncertainties remain related to our noncompliance with certain of the Facility Agreement’s covenants (see Note 4 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion) and the impact and timing of our plan to improve operating cash flows and to restructure our contractual obligations. If the resolution of these uncertainties materially and negatively impacts cash and liquidity, our ability to continue to execute our business plans will be adversely affected. Completion of the foregoing actions is not solely within our control and we may be unable to successfully complete one or all of these actions.

Our Facility Agreement contains events of default that may limit our operating and financial flexibility.

During the second quarter of 2012, we received two reservation of rights letters from the agent for the Facility Agreement identifying potential existing defaults of certain non-financial covenants in the Facility Agreement that may have occurred as a result of the Thales Alenia Space (“Thales”) arbitration ruling and the subsequent settlement agreements reached with Thales related to the arbitration discussed in Note 9 to our Consolidated Financial Statements. The letters indicated that the lenders were evaluating their position with respect to the potential defaults. During the evaluation process, the lenders did not permit funding of the remaining $3.0 million available under the Facility Agreement required for the remaining milestone payments to Thales on the second-generation satellites or allow us to draw funds from the contingent equity account.

On October 12, 2012, we entered into Waiver Letter No. 11 to the Facility Agreement, which permitted us to make a draw from the contingent equity account. In the waiver letter we acknowledged the lenders’ conclusion that events of default did occur as a result of our entering into settlement agreements with Thales related to the arbitration ruling. As of the date of this Report, the agent for the Facility Agreement has not notified us of the lenders’ intention to accelerate the debt; however, we have shown the borrowings as current on the December 31, 2012 balance sheet in accordance with applicable accounting rules. We are currently working with the lenders to obtain all necessary waivers or amendments associated with any default issues, but there can be no assurance that we will be successful. On October 24, 2012, the lenders permitted funding of $2.3 million of the amount available under the Facility Agreement to make a milestone payment to Thales. In November and December 2012, the lenders permitted us to withdraw funds available in the contingent equity account. The lenders currently are not permitting funding of the remaining $0.7 million available under the Facility Agreement.

Due to the launch delays, we expect that we may not be in compliance with certain financial and nonfinancial covenants specified in the Facility Agreement during the next 12 months.  If we cannot obtain either a waiver or an amendment, our failure to comply with these covenants would represent an additional event of default. An event of default under the Facility Agreement would permit the lenders to accelerate the indebtedness under the Facility Agreement. That acceleration would permit holders of our obligations under other agreements that contain cross-acceleration provisions to accelerate that indebtedness.

An event of default may impair our ability to finance our operations or capital needs or to take advantage of other favorable business opportunities. If our indebtedness is accelerated, we may not be able to repay our indebtedness or borrow sufficient funds to refinance it. Even if we are able to obtain new financing, it may not be on commercially reasonable terms or on terms that are acceptable to us. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected and we might be required to seek protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. 

The implementation of our business plan and our ability to generate income from operations assume we are able to deploy and maintain a healthy constellation capable of providing commercially acceptable levels of coverage and service quality, which are contingent on a number of factors.

 In prior periods our ability to generate revenue and cash flow has been impacted adversely by our inability to offer commercially acceptable levels of Duplex service due to the degradation of our first-generation constellation. As a result, we improved the design of our second-generation constellation to last twice as long in space, have 40% greater capacity and be built at a significantly lower cost as compared to our first-generation constellation.

We depend on third parties to design, manufacture, deliver and launch our satellites. The health of our constellation depends on the construction and maintenance of these satellites, which are technically complex. For example, momentum wheels on certain second-generation satellites have exhibited anomalous behavior in orbit, necessitating the removal of the wheels from service. We worked with Thales to develop a software-based solution that permits the affected satellite to operate on as few as two momentum wheels. In October 2012 , we successfully uploaded the AOCS software solution to the second-generation satellite that was previously taken out of service due to anomalous behavior of its momentum wheels. We placed this satellite back into service in November 2012. We can upload this software solution to any satellite that may experience similar anomalous behaviors with its momentum wheels. Other anomalies with our satellites may develop, and we cannot guarantee that we could successfully develop and implement a solution to them.

     Our ability to generate revenue and positive cash flow will depend upon our ability to maintain and operate all of our existing Duplex-capable satellites, maintain a sufficient number of subscribers, introduce new product and service offerings successfully, and compete successfully against other mobile satellite service providers to gain new subscribers.

We incurred operating losses in the past three years, and these losses are likely to continue.

We incurred operating losses of $95.0 million, $73.2 million and $59.8 million in 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively. These losses are largely a result of problems with our two-way communications services and the delay in launching our second-generation constellation. We expect that we will continue to incur operating losses as we attempt to regain our market position.

We have substantial contractual obligations and capital expenditure plans, which will require additional capital, the terms of which have not been arranged. The terms of our Facility Agreement could complicate raising this additional capital.

We plan to make expenditures related to our constellation and ground infrastructure, including internal labor costs and interest on outstanding debt, which we expect will be reflected in capital expenditures primarily through 2015. The nature of these purchases requires us to enter into long-term fixed price contracts. We could cancel some of these purchase commitments, subject to the incurrence of specified cancellation penalties. Our sources of liquidity are not sufficient to meet our existing contractual obligations over the next 12 months. We expect to fund planned capital expenditures through other financing, including proceeds from the issuance of additional equity or debt, not yet arranged. Restrictions in the Facility Agreement limit the types of financings we may undertake.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain this financing on reasonable terms or at all. If we cannot obtain it in a timely manner, we may be unable to execute our business plan and fulfill our financial commitments.

Restrictive covenants in our Facility Agreement may limit our operating and financial flexibility.

Our Facility Agreement contains a number of significant restrictions and covenants that limit our ability to:

Complying with these restrictive covenants, as well as the financial and other nonfinancial covenants in the Facility Agreement and certain of our other debt obligations, as well as those that may be contained in any agreements governing future indebtedness, may impair our ability to finance our operations or capital needs or to take advantage of other favorable business opportunities. Our ability to comply with these covenants will depend on our future performance, which may be affected by events beyond our control.

Our satellites have a limited life and will degrade over time, which may cause our network to be compromised and which may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects and profitability. We may not be able to procure additional second-generation satellites on reasonable terms.

Since our first satellites were launched in the 1990’s, some first-generation satellites have failed in orbit and have been retired, and we expect others to fail in the future. We consider a satellite "failed" only when it can no longer provide any communications service, and we do not intend to undertake any further efforts to return it to service or when the other satellite subsystems can no longer support operations. In-orbit failure may result from various causes, including component failure, loss of power or fuel, inability to control positioning of the satellite, solar or other astronomical events, including solar radiation and flares, the quality of construction, gradual degradation of solar panels, the durability of components, and collision with other satellites or space debris. Any of these causes, including radiation induced failure of satellite components, may result in damage to or loss of a satellite before the end of its currently expected life.

As a result of the issues described above, some of our in-orbit satellites may experience temporary outages or may not otherwise be fully functioning at any given time. There are some remote tools we use to remedy certain types of problems affecting the performance of our satellites, but the physical repair of satellites in space is not feasible. As it is not economically feasible, we do not insure our satellites against in-orbit failures after an initial period of six months, whether the failures are caused by internal or external factors.

As our second-generation constellation becomes fully operational, we may face challenges in maintaining our current subscriber base for two-way communications service because we plan to increase prices, consistent with market conditions, to reflect our improved two-way service and coverage. Further, as we fully deploy our second-generation constellation, we may eliminate the online forecasting tools as our Duplex coverage will be essentially complete and continuous throughout our service areas.

All satellites have a limited life and degrade over time. In order to maintain commercially acceptable service coverage long-term, we must obtain and launch additional satellites. As discussed in Note 9 to our Consolidated Financial Statements, we and Thales may negotiate the terms of a follow-on contract for additional satellites, but we can provide no assurance as to whether we will ultimately agree on commercial terms for such a purchase. If we are unable to agree with Thales on commercial terms for the purchase of additional satellites, we may enter into negotiations with one or more other satellite manufacturers, but we cannot provide any assurance that these negotiations will be successful either.

Our business plan to use a portion of our licensed MSS spectrum to provide terrestrial wireless services depends upon action by the FCC, which we cannot control.

Our business plan includes utilizing approximately 20 MHz of our licensed MSS spectrum to provide terrestrial wireless services, including mobile broadband applications, within the United States. In pursuit of these plans, we have petitioned the FCC for rulemaking to establish a separate terrestrial services license covering the MSS spectrum exclusively licensed to us and eliminating the ATC regulatory regime that currently restricts our ability to utilize our spectrum terrestrially. If the FCC does not accept our proposal, our anticipated future revenues and profitability could be reduced. We can provide no assurance that the FCC will undertake our requested actions or how long the regulatory process to obtain this relief will take. If we are unable achieve the rule changes discussed above, then our only ability to utilize our MSS spectrum for terrestrial applications will be pursuant to the existing ATC regulatory regime that requires many restrictive conditions called gating criteria.

Future regulatory decisions could reduce our existing spectrum allocation or impose additional spectrum sharing agreements on us, which could adversely affect our services and operations.

Under the FCC's plan for mobile satellite services in our frequency bands, we must share frequencies in the United States with other licensed mobile satellite services operators. To date, there are no other authorized CDMA-based mobile satellite services operators and no pending applications for authorization. However the FCC or other regulatory authorities may require us to share spectrum with other systems that are not currently licensed by the United States or any other jurisdiction. The FCC's decision in October 2008 to reduce the number of channels we have available in our lower band may impair our ability to grow over the long term. Similar future FCC decisions could substantially impair our ability to continue providing mobile satellite services in the United States and/or abroad.

We registered our second-generation constellation with the ITU through France rather than the United States. The French radiofrequency spectrum regulatory agency, ANFR, submitted the technical papers filing to the ITU on our behalf in July 2009. As with the first-generation constellation, the ITU requires us to coordinate our spectrum assignments with other administrators and operators that use any portion of our spectrum frequency bands. We are actively engaged in but cannot predict how long the coordination process will take; however, we are able to use the frequencies during the coordination process in accordance with our national licenses.

On February 11, 2013, Iridium filed its own petition for rulemaking seeking to have the FCC reallocate 2.725 MHz of Big Leo spectrum from 1616-1618.725 MHz to Iridium’s exclusive use. Iridium also filed a motion to consolidate its petition with our petition for rulemaking. The FCC has not taken any action on Iridium’s petition and motion. We will vigorously oppose Iridium’s petition in order to preserve our existing spectrum allocation.

  Spectrum values historically have been volatile, which could cause the value of our business to fluctuate.

Our business plan includes forming strategic partnerships to maximize the use and value of our spectrum, network assets and combined service offerings in the United States and internationally. Value that we may be able to realize from such partnerships will depend in part on the value ascribed to our spectrum. Historically, valuations of spectrum in other frequency bands have been volatile, and we cannot predict the future value that we may be able to realize for our spectrum and other assets. In addition, to the extent that the FCC takes action that makes additional spectrum available or promotes the more flexible use or greater availability (e.g., via spectrum leasing or new spectrum sales) of existing satellite or terrestrial spectrum allocations, the availability of such additional spectrum could reduce the value that we may be able to realize for our spectrum.

The implementation of our business plan depends on increased demand for wireless communications services via satellite, both for our existing services and products and for new services and products. If this increased demand does not occur, our revenues and profitability may not increase as we expect.

Demand for wireless communication services via satellite may not grow, or may even shrink, either generally or in particular geographic markets, for particular types of services or during particular time periods. A lack of demand could impair our ability to sell our services and develop and successfully market new services, or could exert downward pressure on prices, or both. This, in turn, could decrease our revenues and profitability and adversely affect our ability to increase our revenues and profitability over time.

The success of our business plan will depend on a number of factors, including:

Our success in generating sufficient cash from operations will depend on our ability to increase prices of services and the market acceptance and success of our current and future products and services, which may not occur.

We plan to introduce additional Duplex, SPOT, and Simplex products and services. However, we cannot predict with certainty the potential longer term demand for these products and services or the extent to which we will be able to meet demand. Our business plan assumes growing our Duplex subscriber base beyond levels achieved in the past, rapidly growing our SPOT and Simplex subscriber base and returning the business to profitability. Among other things, end user acceptance of our Duplex, SPOT, and Simplex products and services will depend upon:

Our business plan assumes a growing subscriber base for Duplex, SPOT and Simplex products. If we cannot implement this business plan successfully and gain market acceptance for these planned products and services, our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected.

We depend in large part on the efforts of third parties for the retail sale of our services and products. The inability of these third parties to sell our services and products successfully may decrease our future revenue and profitability.

We derive a large portion of our revenue from products and services sold through independent agents, dealers and resellers, including, outside the United States, IGOs. If these third parties are unable to market our products and services successfully, our future revenue and profitability may decrease.

We depend on IGOs to market our services in important regions around the world. If the IGOs are unable to do this successfully, we will not be able to grow our business in those areas as rapidly as we expect.

Although we derive most of our revenue from retail sales to end users in the United States, Canada, a portion of Western Europe, Central America and portions of South America, either directly or through agents, dealers and resellers, we depend on IGOs to purchase, install, operate and maintain gateway equipment, to sell phones and data user terminals, and to market our services in other regions where these IGOs hold exclusive or non-exclusive rights. Not all of the IGOs have been successful and, in some regions, they have not initiated service or sold as much usage as originally anticipated. Some of the IGOs are not earning revenues sufficient to fund their operating costs due to the operational issues we experienced with our first-generation satellites. Although we expect these IGOs to return to profitability with the return of Duplex service, if they are unable to continue in business, we will lose the revenue we receive for selling equipment to them and providing services to their customers. Although we have implemented a strategy for the acquisition of certain IGOs when circumstances permit, we may not be able to continue to implement this strategy on favorable terms and may not be able to realize the additional efficiencies that we anticipate from this strategy. In some regions it is impracticable to acquire the IGOs either because local regulatory requirements or business or cultural norms do not permit an acquisition, because the expected revenue increase from an acquisition would be insufficient to justify the transaction, or because the IGO will not sell at a price acceptable to us. In those regions, our revenue and profits may be adversely affected if those IGOs do not fulfill their own business plans to increase substantially their sales of services and products.

Product liability, product replacement, or recall costs could adversely affect our business and financial performance.

We are subject to product liability and product recall claims if any of our products and services are alleged to have resulted in injury to persons or damage to property. If any of our products proves to be defective, we may need to recall and/or redesign it. In addition, any claim or product recall that results in significant adverse publicity may negatively affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations. We maintain product liability insurance, but this insurance may not adequately cover losses related to product liability claims brought against us. We may also be a defendant in class action litigation, for which no insurance is available. Product liability insurance could become more expensive and difficult to maintain and may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. In addition, we do not maintain any product recall insurance, so any product recall we are required to initiate could have a significant impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. We regularly investigate potential quality issues as part of our ongoing effort to deliver quality products to our customers.

Because consumers use SPOT products and services in isolated and, in some cases, dangerous locations, we cannot predict whether users of the device who suffer injury or death may seek to assert claims against us alleging failure of the device to facilitate timely emergency response. Although we will seek to limit our exposure to any such claims through appropriate disclaimers and liability insurance coverage, we cannot assure investors that the disclaimers will be effective, claims will not arise or insurance coverage will be sufficient.

We may be unable to establish a worldwide service network due to the absence of gateways in certain important regions on the world, which may limit our growth and our ability to compete.

Our objective is to establish a worldwide service network, either directly or through IGOs, but to date we have been unable to do so in certain areas of the world and we may not succeed in doing so in the future. We have been unable to finance our own gateways or to find capable IGOs for several important regions and countries, including Eastern and Southern Africa, India, China, and certain parts of Southeast Asia. In addition to the lack of global service availability, cost-effective roaming is not yet available in certain countries because the IGOs have been unable to reach business arrangements with one another. This could reduce overall demand for our products and services and undermine our value for potential users who require service in these areas.

Rapid and significant technological changes in the satellite communications industry may impair our competitive position and require us to make significant additional capital expenditures.

The hardware and software we currently utilize in operating our gateways were designed and manufactured over 10 years ago and portions have deteriorated. We have contracted to replace the digital hardware and software in the future; however the original equipment may become less reliable as it ages and will be more difficult and expensive to service. Although we maintain inventories of spare parts, it nonetheless may be difficult or impossible to obtain all necessary replacement parts for the hardware before the new equipment and software is fully deployed. We expect to face competition in the future from companies using new technologies and new satellite systems. The space and communications industries are subject to rapid advances and innovations in technology. New technology could render our system obsolete or less competitive by satisfying consumer demand in more attractive ways or through the introduction of incompatible standards. Particular technological developments that could adversely affect us include the deployment by our competitors of new satellites with greater power, greater flexibility, greater efficiency or greater capabilities, as well as continuing improvements in terrestrial wireless technologies. We have had to commit, and must continue to commit, to make significant capital expenditures to keep up with technological changes and remain competitive. Customer acceptance of the services and products that we offer will continually be affected by technology-based differences in our product and service offerings. New technologies may be protected by patents and therefore may not be available to us.

A natural disaster could diminish our ability to provide communications service.

Natural disasters could damage or destroy our ground stations resulting in a disruption of service to our customers. In addition, the collateral effects of such disasters such as flooding may impair the functioning of our ground equipment. If a natural disaster were to impair or destroy any of our ground facilities, we might be unable to provide service to our customers in the affected area for a period of time. Even if our gateways are not affected by natural disasters, our service could be disrupted if a natural disaster damages the public switch telephone network or terrestrial wireless networks or our ability to connect to the public switch telephone network or terrestrial wireless networks. Such failure or service disruptions could harm our business and results of operations.

We face intense competition in all of our markets, which could result in a loss of customers and lower revenues and make it more difficult for us to enter new markets.

Satellite-based Competitors

There are currently three other MSS operators providing services similar to ours on a global or regional basis: Iridium, Thuraya, and Inmarsat. The provision of satellite-based products and services is subject to downward price pressure when the capacity exceeds demand or as new competitors enter the marketplace with particular competitive pricing strategies.

Other providers of satellite-based products could introduce their own products similar to our SPOT, Simplex or Duplex products, which may materially adversely affect our business plan. In addition, we may face competition from new competitors or new technologies. With so many companies targeting many of the same customers, we may not be able to retain successfully our existing customers and attract new customers and as a result may not grow our customer base and revenue.

Terrestrial Competitors

In addition to our satellite-based competitors, terrestrial wireless voice and data service providers are continuing to expand into rural and remote areas, particularly in less developed countries, and providing the same general types of services and products that we provide through our satellite-based system. Many of these companies have greater resources, greater name recognition and newer technologies than we do. Industry consolidation could adversely affect us by increasing the scale or scope of our competitors and thereby making it more difficult for us to compete. We could lose market share and revenue as a result of increasing competition from the extension of land-based communication services.

Although satellite communications services and ground-based communications services are not perfect substitutes, the two compete in certain markets and for certain services. Consumers generally perceive wireless voice communication products and services as cheaper and more convenient than satellite-based products and services.

ATC Competitors

We also expect to compete with a number of other satellite companies that plan to develop terrestrial networks that utilize their MSS spectrum. DISH Networks recently received FCC approval to offer terrestrial wireless services over the MSS spectrum that previously belonged to TerreStar and ICO Global. Further, LightSquared continues its regulatory initiative to receive final FCC approval to build out a wireless network utilizing its MSS spectrum. Any of these competitors could offer an integrated satellite and terrestrial network before we do, could combine with terrestrial networks that provide them with greater financial or operational flexibility than we have, or could offer wireless services, including mobile broadband services, that customers prefer over ours.

Potential Loss of Customers

We may lose customers due to competition, consolidation, regulatory developments, business developments affecting our customers or their customers, the degradation of our constellation or for other reasons. Our top 10 customers for the year ended December 31, 2012 accounted for, in the aggregate, approximately 14% of our total revenues. For the year ended December 31, 2012, revenues from our largest customer was $2.9 million or 4% of our total revenues. If we fail to maintain our relationships with our major customers, if we lose them and fail to replace them with other similar customers, or if we experience reduced demand from our major customers, our revenue could be significantly reduced. In addition, we may incur additional costs to the extent that amounts due from these customers become uncollectible. More generally, our customers may fail to renew or may cancel their service contracts with us, which could negatively affect future revenues and profitability.

Our customers include multiple agencies of the U.S. government. Service sales to U.S. government agencies constituted approximately 4% of our total service revenue for 2012 and 2011, respectively. Government sales are made pursuant to individual purchase orders placed from time to time by the governmental agencies and are not related to long-term contracts. U.S. government agencies may terminate their business with us at any time without penalty and are subject to changes in government budgets and appropriations.

Our business is subject to extensive government regulation, which mandates how we may operate our business and may increase our cost of providing services, slow our expansion into new markets and subject our services to additional competitive pressures.

Our ownership and operation of an MSS system is subject to significant regulation in the United States by the FCC and in foreign jurisdictions by similar authorities. Additionally, our use of our licensed spectrum globally is subject to coordination by the ITU. Our second-generation constellation has been licensed and registered in France. The rules and regulations of the FCC or these foreign authorities may change and may not continue to permit our operations as presently conducted or as we plan to conduct them.

Failure to provide services in accordance with the terms of our licenses or failure to operate our satellites, ground stations, or other terrestrial facilities (including those necessary to provide ATC services) as required by our licenses and applicable government regulations could result in the imposition of government sanctions against us, up to and including cancellation of our licenses.

Our system requires regulatory authorization in each of the markets in which we or the IGOs provide service. We and the IGOs may not be able to obtain or retain all regulatory approvals needed for operations. For example, the company with which the original owners of our first-generation network contracted to establish an independent gateway operation in South Africa was unable to obtain an operating license from the Republic of South Africa and abandoned the business in 2001. Regulatory changes, such as those resulting from judicial decisions or adoption of treaties, legislation or regulation in countries where we operate or intend to operate, may also significantly affect our business. Because regulations in each country are different, we may not be aware if some of the IGOs and/or persons with which we or they do business do not hold the requisite licenses and approvals.

Our current regulatory approvals could now be, or could become, insufficient in the view of foreign regulatory authorities. Furthermore, any additional necessary approvals may not be granted on a timely basis, or at all, in all jurisdictions in which we wish to offer services, and applicable restrictions in those jurisdictions could become unduly burdensome.

Our operations are subject to certain regulations of the United States State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (i.e., the export of satellites and related technical data), United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (i.e., financial transactions) and the United States Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (i.e., our gateways and phones). These regulations may limit or delay our ability to operate in a particular country. As new laws and regulations are issued, we may be required to modify our business plans or operations. If we fail to comply with these regulations in any country, we could be subject to sanctions that could affect, materially and adversely, our ability to operate in that country. Failure to obtain the authorizations necessary to use our assigned radio frequency spectrum and to distribute our products in certain countries could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue and on our overall competitive position.

If we do not develop, acquire and maintain proprietary information and intellectual property rights, it could limit the growth of our business and reduce our market share.

Our business depends on technical knowledge, and we believe that our future success is based, in part, on our ability to keep up with new technological developments and incorporate them in our products and services. We own or have the right to use our patents, work products, inventions, designs, software, systems and similar know-how. Although we have taken diligent steps to protect that information, the information may be disclosed to others or others may independently develop similar information, systems and know-how. Protection of our information, systems and know-how may result in litigation, the cost of which could be substantial. Third parties may assert claims that our products or services infringe on their proprietary rights. Any such claims, if made, may prevent or limit our sales of products or services or increase our costs of sales.

We license much of the software we require to support critical gateway operations from third parties, including Qualcomm and Space Systems/Loral Inc. This software was developed or customized specifically for our use. We also license software to support customer service functions, such as billing, from third parties which developed or customized it specifically for our use. If the third party licensors were to cease to support and service the software, or the licenses were to no longer be available on commercially reasonable terms, it may be difficult, expensive or impossible to obtain such services from alternative vendors. Replacing such software could be difficult, time consuming and expensive, and might require us to obtain substitute technology with lower quality or performance standards or at a greater cost.

We face special risks by doing business in developing markets, including currency and expropriation risks, which could increase our costs or reduce our revenues in these areas.

Although our most economically important geographic markets currently are the United States and Canada, we have substantial markets for our mobile satellite services in, and our business plan includes, developing countries or regions that are underserved by existing telecommunications systems, such as rural Venezuela, Brazil and Central America. Developing countries are more likely than industrialized countries to experience market, currency and interest rate fluctuations and may have higher inflation. In addition, these countries present risks relating to government policy, price, wage and exchange controls, social instability, expropriation and other adverse economic, political and diplomatic conditions.

We receive a majority of our revenues in U.S. dollars. Limited availability of U.S. currency in some local markets or governmental controls on the export of currency may prevent an IGO from making payments in U.S. dollars or delay the availability of payment due to foreign bank currency processing and approval. In addition, exchange rate fluctuations may affect our ability to control the prices charged for the independent gateway operators' services.

Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may adversely impact our financial results.

Our operations involve transactions in a variety of currencies. Sales denominated in foreign currencies primarily involve the Canadian dollar, the euro, and the Brazilian real. Certain of our obligations are denominated in euros. Accordingly, our operating results may be significantly affected by fluctuations in the exchange rates for these currencies. For example, increases in the value of the euro compared to the U.S. dollar can effectively increase the euro-denominated costs of procuring our second-generation satellites. Approximately 29% and 34% of our total sales were to retail customers located primarily in Canada, Europe, Central America, and South America during 2012 and 2011, respectively. Our results of operations for 2012 and 2011 included losses of $2.0 million and $0.5 million, respectively, on foreign currency transactions. We may be unable to offset unfavorable currency movements as they adversely affect our revenue and expenses. Our inability to do so could have a substantial negative impact on our operating results and cash flows.

Changes in tax rates or adverse results of tax examinations could materially increase our costs.

We operate in various U.S. and foreign tax jurisdictions. The process of determining our anticipated tax liabilities involves many calculations and estimates which are inherently complex. We believe that we have complied in all material respects with our obligations to pay taxes in these jurisdictions. However, our position is subject to review and possible challenge by the taxing authorities of these jurisdictions. If the applicable taxing authorities were to challenge successfully our current tax positions, or if there were changes in the manner in which we conduct our activities, we could become subject to material unanticipated tax liabilities. We may also become subject to additional tax liabilities as a result of changes in tax laws, which could in certain circumstances have a retroactive effect.

In January 2012 our Canadian subsidiary was notified that its income tax returns for the years ending October 31, 2008 and 2009 have been selected for audit. Our Canadian subsidiary is in the process of collecting the information requested by the Canadian Revenue Agency.

As a result of our acquisition of an independent gateway operator in Brazil during 2008, we are exposed to potential pre-acquisition tax liabilities. During 2012, the seller paid approximately $0.5 million of these liabilities, but the gateway operator remains subject to an additional $2.8 million in liabilities. We may be exposed to potential pre-acquisition liabilities for which we may not be fully indemnified by the seller, or the seller may fail to perform its indemnification obligations.

We rely on a limited number of key vendors for timely supply of equipment and services. If our key vendors fail to provide equipment and services to us, we may face difficulties in finding alternative sources and may not be able to operate our business successfully.

We have depended on Qualcomm as the exclusive manufacturer of phones using the IS 41 CDMA North American standard, which incorporates Qualcomm proprietary technology. We have issued separate purchase orders for additional phone equipment and accessories under the terms of our executed commercial agreements with Qualcomm. We have been in negotiations with Qualcomm to terminate the current agreement as neither party is performing under the terms of the current agreement. See Note 8 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion. Although we have contracted with Hughes and Ericsson to provide new hardware and software for our ground component, there could be a substantial period of time in which their products or services are not available and Qualcomm no longer supports its products and services.

Additionally, we depend on our product manufacturers who provide us with our inventory. If these manufacturers do not take on future orders or fail to perform under our current contracts, we may be unable to continue to produce and sell our inventory to customers at a reasonable cost to us or there may be delays in production and sales.

Pursuing strategic transactions may cause us to incur additional risks.

We may pursue acquisitions, joint ventures or other strategic transactions on an opportunistic basis. We may face costs and risks arising from any such transactions, including integrating a new business into our business or managing a joint venture. These may include legal, organizational, financial and other costs and risks.

In addition, if we were to choose to engage in any major business combination or similar strategic transaction, we may require significant external financing in connection with the transaction. Depending on market conditions, investor perceptions of us, and other factors, we may not be able to obtain capital on acceptable terms, in acceptable amounts or at appropriate times to implement any such transaction. Our Facility Agreement and other debt obligations contain covenants which limit our ability to engage in specified forms of capital transactions without lender consent, which may be impossible to obtain. Any such financing, if obtained, may further dilute our existing stockholders.

Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.

Borrowings under our Facility Agreement are at a variable rate. In order to mitigate our variable rate interest risk, we entered into a ten year interest rate cap agreement. The interest rate cap agreements reflect a variable notional amount ranging from $586.3 million to $14.8 million at interest rates that provide coverage to us for exposure resulting from escalating interest rates over the term of the Facility Agreement. The interest rate cap provides limits on the six-month Libor rate (“Base Rate”) used to calculate the coupon interest on outstanding amounts on the Facility Agreement of 4.00% from the date of issuance through December 2012. Thereafter, the Base Rate is capped at 5.50% should the Base Rate not exceed 6.5%. Should the Base Rate exceed 6.5%, our Base Rate will be 1% less than the then six-month Libor rate. Regardless of our attempts to mitigate our exposure to interest rate fluctuations through the interest rate cap, we still have exposure for the uncapped amounts of the facility, which remain subject to a variable interest rate. As a result, an increase in interest rates could result in a substantial increase in interest expense, especially as the capped amount of the term loan decreases over time.  

Recessionary indicators and continued volatility in global economic conditions and the financial markets have adversely affected and may continue to affect adversely sales of our products.

Financial markets continue to be uncertain and could significantly adversely impact global economic conditions. These conditions could lead to further reduced consumer spending in the foreseeable future, especially for discretionary travel and related products. A substantial portion of the potential addressable market for our consumer retail products and services relates to recreational users, such as mountain climbers, campers, kayakers, sport fishermen and wilderness hikers. These potential customers may reduce their activities or their spending due to economic conditions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

The loss of skilled management and personnel could impair our operations.

Our performance is substantially dependent on the performance and institutional knowledge of our senior management and key scientific and technical personnel.  The loss of the services of any member of our senior management, scientific or technical staff may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of business objectives by diverting management’s attention to retention matters, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Lack of availability of electronic components from the electronics industry, as needed in our subscriber products, our gateways, and our satellites, could delay or adversely impact our operations.

We rely upon the availability of components, materials and component parts from the electronics industry. The electronics industry is subject to occasional shortages in parts availability depending on fluctuations in supply and demand. Industry shortages may result in delayed shipments of materials, or increased prices, or both. As a consequence, elements of our operation which use electronic parts, such as our subscriber products, our gateways and our satellites, could be subject to delays or cost increases, or both.

Changes in international trade regulations and other risks associated with foreign trade could adversely affect our sourcing .

We source our products primarily from foreign contract manufacturers, with the largest concentration being in China. The adoption of regulations related to the importation of product, including quotas, duties, taxes and other charges or restrictions on imported goods, and changes in U.S. customs procedures could result in an increase in the cost of our products. Delays in customs clearance of goods or the disruption of international transportation lines used by us could result in our inability to deliver goods to customers in a timely manner or the potential loss of sales altogether. Current or future social and environmental regulations or critical issues, such as those relating to the sourcing of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the need to eliminate environmentally sensitive materials from our products, could restrict the supply of components and materials used in production or increase our costs. Any delay or interruption to our manufacturing process or in shipping our products could result in lost revenue, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

Our common stock has been delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market, which may impair our ability to raise capital.

As of December 31, 2012, our voting common stock was listed on the over the counter stock market (“OTCBB”) under the symbol “GSAT” after we were removed from the NASDAQ Stock Market for not meeting the $1.00 per share minimum bid requirement. Broker-dealers may be less willing or able to sell and/or make a market in our common stock, which may make it more difficult for shareholders to dispose of, or to obtain accurate quotations for the price of, our common stock. Removal of our common stock from listing on the NASDAQ Stock Market may also make it more difficult for us to raise capital through the sale of our securities.

If our common stock is not listed on a U.S. national stock exchange or approved for quotation and trading on a national automated dealer quotation system or established automated over-the-counter trading market, holders of our 5.0% Notes, 5.75% Notes and 8.00% Notes will have the option to require us to repurchase the Notes, which we may not have sufficient financial resources to do.

As our common stock is no longer listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, we are no longer subject to any of the NASDAQ governance requirements, and our stockholders will not have the protection of these requirements.

Restrictive covenants in our Facility Agreement do not allow us to pay dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

We do not expect to pay cash dividends on our common stock. Our Facility Agreement currently prohibits the payment of cash dividends. Any future dividend payments are within the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, working capital requirements, capital expenditure requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions, business opportunities, anticipated cash needs, provisions of applicable law and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. We may not generate sufficient cash from operations in the future to pay dividends on our common stock.

The market price of our common stock is volatile and there is a limited market for our shares.

The trading price of our common stock is subject to wide fluctuations. Factors affecting the trading price of our common stock may include:

The trading price of our common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies in our industry even if these events do not directly affect us. Our stockholders may be unable to resell their shares of our common stock at or above the initial purchase price. Additionally, because we are a controlled company there is a limited market for our common stock and we cannot assure our stockholders that a trading market will develop further or be maintained.

Trading volume for our common stock historically has been low. Sales of significant amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market could lower the market price of our stock.

The future issuance of additional shares of our common stock could cause dilution of ownership interests and adversely affect our stock price.

We may issue our previously authorized and unissued securities, resulting in the dilution of the ownership interests of our current stockholders. We are authorized to issue 1.0 billion shares of common stock (135.0 million are designated as nonvoting), of which approximately 354.1 million shares of voting common stock and 135.0 million shares of nonvoting common stock were issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2012 and 510.9 million shares were available for future issuance (of which approximately 471.5 million shares are reserved for issuances of shares upon exercise of warrants or options or conversion of notes). The potential issuance of such additional shares of common stock, whether directly or pursuant to any conversion right of any convertible securities, may create downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock. We may also issue additional shares of our common stock or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock for capital raising or other business purposes. Future sales of substantial amounts of common stock, or the perception that sales could occur, could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

We have issued and may issue shares of preferred stock or debt securities with greater rights than our common stock.

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock and set the terms of the preferred stock without seeking any further approval from holders of our common stock. Currently, there are 100 million shares of preferred stock authorized; one share of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock was issued and subsequently converted to shares of voting and nonvoting common stock during 2009. Any preferred stock that is issued may rank ahead of our common stock in terms of dividends, priority and liquidation premiums and may have greater voting rights than holders of our common stock.

If persons engage in short sales of our common stock, the price of our common stock may decline.

Selling short is a technique used by a stockholder to take advantage of an anticipated decline in the price of a security. A significant number of short sales or a large volume of other sales within a relatively short period of time can create downward pressure on the market price of a security. Further sales of common stock could cause even greater declines in the price of our common stock due to the number of additional shares available in the market, which could encourage short sales that could further undermine the value of our common stock. Holders of our securities could, therefore, experience a decline in the value of their investment as a result of short sales of our common stock.

Provisions in our charter documents and credit agreement and provisions of Delaware law may discourage takeovers, which could affect the rights of holders of our common stock.

Provisions of Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and our Facility Agreement and indenture could hamper a third party's acquisition of us or discourage a third party from attempting to acquire control of us. These provisions include:

We also are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits us from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder, as defined in that section, for a period of three years following the date on which that stockholder became an interested stockholder. This provision does not apply to Thermo, which became our principal stockholder prior to our initial public offering.

These provisions also could make it more difficult for you and our other stockholders to elect directors and take other corporate actions, and could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.

We are controlled by Thermo, whose interests may conflict with yours.

As of December 31, 2012, Thermo owned approximately 66% of our outstanding voting common stock and approximately 75% of all outstanding common stock. Additionally, Thermo owns warrants, 5.0% Notes, and 8.00% Notes that may be converted into or exercised for additional shares of common stock. Thermo is able to control the election of all of the members of our board of directors and the vote on substantially all other matters, including significant corporate transactions such as the approval of a merger or other transaction involving our sale.

We have depended substantially on Thermo to provide capital to finance our business. In 2006 and 2007, Thermo purchased an aggregate of $200 million of common stock at prices substantially above market. On December 17, 2007, Thermo assumed all of the obligations and was assigned all of the rights (other than indemnification rights) of the administrative agent and the lenders under our amended and restated credit agreement. To fulfill the conditions precedent to our Facility Agreement, in 2009, Thermo converted the loans outstanding under the credit agreement into equity and terminated the credit agreement. In addition, Thermo and its affiliates deposited $60.0 million in a contingent equity account to fulfill a condition precedent for borrowing under the Facility Agreement, purchased $20.0 million of our 5.0% Notes, purchased $11.4 million of our 8.00% Notes, and loaned us $37.5 million to fund our debt service reserve account under the Facility Agreement.

Thermo is controlled by James Monroe III, our Chairman and CEO. Through Thermo, Mr. Monroe holds equity interests in, and serves as an executive officer or director of, a diverse group of privately-owned businesses not otherwise related to us. We reimburse Thermo and Mr. Monroe for certain third party, documented, out of pocket expenses they incur in connection with our business.

The interests of Thermo may conflict with the interests of our other stockholders. Thermo may take actions it believes will benefit its equity investment in us or loans to us even though such actions might not be in your best interests as a holder of our common stock.