![]() 24 that an undisclosed customer was helping to fund plans to replenish its constellation. Those rumors got another boost when Globalstar said Feb. Rumors circulated last year that Apple was planning to release iPhones that could connect to Iridium rival Globalstar’s satellite network. Longer-term, Iridium sees an opportunity to place its satellite chips in smartphones to enable them to tap into its L-band network. “So it’s one of the reasons why we’ve chosen to sort of step out of what we normally do to go after supporting and running and operating their LEO network in addition to the … experience we’ve had running our own.” “I think there’s a lot of confidence among the government that going to be a network that will be increasingly relied upon,” Desch said. One of those manufacturers is Northrop Grumman, which highlighted its work to integrate and test Iridium Next satellites when it announced its share of the contract. 28 to build satellites for the Transport Layer Tranche 1. government will award a contract to operate the constellation this year, after selecting manufacturers Feb. Iridium’s bid to operate a planned LEO constellation for the Department of Defense’s Space Development Agency (SDA) is one of these business opportunities.ĭesch said he expects the U.S. Even as we’ve been pretty successful working supply chain issues, we’re also finding new challenges in the current environment, like expanding our team to address our growing set of business opportunities.” ![]() “We have the business and could ship even more units if our parts supplier could meet our growing needs. “This is a high-quality problem to have even though frustrating,” he said. Iridium reported 50,000 commercial IoT activations in the first quarter of 2022, and Desch said this “could have been even higher if we could have shipped more equipment.” However, the company hit a wall as demand exceeded forecasts while it works to build up an inventory for most of its products. Globally, he said Iridium generated a record $42.1 million of revenue related to equipment sales and engineering and support projects in the first quarter. “Our service is being used extensively” in Ukraine, he said, and “many thousands of handsets, and and other devices have gone in from our partners,” adding that the company has “been stretched in terms of supply to meet all that” demand. Iridium reported a 15% increase in revenue to $168.2 million for the first three months of 2022, compared with the same period last year.ĭesch said sales were driven by connectivity markets recovering from the pandemic and “tremendous demand” in Ukraine following Russia’s Feb. Iridium satellite network update#If Iridium chooses a SpaceX rideshare mission, it will likely again use trucks to transport satellites on their 550-mile journey from Arizona to California, avoiding aircraft shortages that mainly affect larger spacecraft destined for geostationary orbit.ĭesch declined to give an update on the constellation’s projected operational life after an analyst asked if launching most of its ground spares meant it still planned to refresh Iridium Next around 2035. Using Falcon 9 rockets, SpaceX had typically deployed 10 Iridium Next satellites with each launch mission.Įurope’s Thales Alenia Space built the constellation but subcontracted Northrop Grumman to integrate the satellites at facilities in the United States, where the ground spares are kept. ![]() SpaceX, which launched all 75 satellites for the operator’s $3 billion Iridium Next second-generation constellation, lofted its latest batch of 10 satellites in early 2019 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The company had been waiting for a cost-effective opportunity to launch its remaining spares, according to Desch, who noted they have been racking up battery, solar array and other maintenance costs.Įxtra in-orbit spares add more network redundancy, and effectively extend the constellation’s operational life because each satellite is designed to operate for at least 15 years. “Our constellation is very healthy and is performing well, but our ground spares have little utility just sitting in storage.” “I want to be clear that we do not have an immediate need to launch these satellites,” Desch said. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |