21 MAY 2011

Satwest Launches first Commercial Satellite Phone into Space

View the Launch

Satwest CEO M. Brian Barnett beams with pride as technicians remove the Satwest satellite phone from the rocket payload canister that just took it to space. Barnett's daughter, Isabella, looks on.

Satwest rocket phone launch, May 20, 2011, 07:21 AM, from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

28 JAN 2011

Satwest among first to sell cell-satellite smart phone

Satwest LLC, a local distributor of satellite phones and airtime, has been selected by Virginia-based TerreStar Networks Inc. to be one of four firms licensed to sell the world’s first cell and satellite smart phone combination.

The device, dubbed the Genus by TerreStar, functions both a cell and satellite phone, said Satwest President and CEO Brian Barnett. When cell phone service is unavailable, customers can make satellite calls, send text messages or access the Internet through TerreStar I, the planet’s largest commercial communications satellite, which TerreStar launched in 2009.

The TerreStar satellite blankets the U.S. and Canada and up to 200 miles off the North American coastline. That means Genus users can access service anywhere, anytime, Barnett said.

23 OCT 2009t

Satwest partners with The Tahina Expedition