Fun Iridium trivia: it was originally designed to need 77 satellites, hence the name. By the time they deployed they’d figured out they’d only need 66, but for some reason didn’t change their name to Dysprosium.
replyThis kind of trivia can be discovered in the very interesting and entertaining book "Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story" by John Bloom. Highly recommended read (if you're generally into tech/business/startup chronicles)!
replyAnd while you're at it, read "Chip Wars" by Christopher R. Miller as well. Extremely good read to understand tomorrows' most relevant geopolitical conflict.
the person you are responding to seems to have massively massively downplayed iridium then….
replySurprisingly they're profitable, but still saddled with a lot of debt.
I know to people over at Iridium that have stayed through the past 15 years or so. They have a niche they're serving that seems stable for now.
replyI half expect Amazon to keep making acquisitions to try and accelerate their satellite efforts. I don't think it's a net negative thing, there's so much more we can do.
I am surprised that Starlink didn't eat their lunch. I think the only thing keeping them alive is inertia and the fact that Starlink still has regional lockouts and doesn't work in the most remote parts of the world.
replyGarden variety Starlink requires a big, expensive, high-powered phased-array antenna, and there are lots of low-power/IoT-type applications served by Iridium for which Starlink is not suitable. Once the Starlink direct-to-cell technology matures, presumably that'll serve those usecases, but it still seems pretty nascent.
replyIridium still has a monopoly on high latitudes, too, AFAIK. Their USP is being the only network that works literally anywhere on the surface of the earth.
replyStarlink works at high attitudes. It was a big deal when they got it at McMurdo 4 years ago. Same in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) Alaska.
replyUnder SOLAS, GMDSS equipment is mandatory on ships. Iridium (and Inmarsat) meet that requirement, starlink does not - hence Iridium is still very much around...
replyThere are countless niches like this in telematics, one of the only industries I've encountered where a seemingly established company will be doing a "Series K" round, typically as a means to buy or build out the infrastructure they need for whatever customer.
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