In December of 2006 Globalstar announced that Alcatel Alenia now Thales Alenia has been awarded a EUR 661 million contract to build the second generation Globalstar constellation. These second generation constellation is expected to last 15 years which is much longer than the first generation. The initial launch will be in the second half of 2009. The new satellites are expected to be put slowly in service by January of 2010. This new constellation is expected to provide Globalstar customers with voice and data service until at least 2025. Globalstar will continue to provide service with its existing satellite constellation until the second generation Globalstar satellites are in service.