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<\/p>\nIridium has secured a $30 million research and development contract with the United States Army to develop a payload which will support the concept of a rapidly deployable small satellite constellation, with the goal of providing more effective data transmission to the soldiers in the field.<\/p>\n
The payload will be hosted by another Low Earth Orbit commercial satellite constellation and used alongside Iridium\u2019s existing network. Although the partner is not yet announced, it could include mega-constellations like SpaceX\u2019s Starlink, Amazon\u2019s upcoming Project Kuiper, or satellites of the OneWeb and ViaSat constellations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the largest engineering contracts in Iridium\u2019s history, and we\u2019re pleased to once again bring the value of Iridium and our partner ecosystem to the fore at the request of the United States Army,\u201d said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also represents another phase in the evolution of our growing relationship with the DoD (Department of Defense), and we\u2019re excited to engage in this experimental multi-constellation adaptation of our service.\u201d<\/p>\n
The experimental payload will be based on Iridium\u2019s one-to-many global broadcast service, named Iridium Burst. Announced in 2014, Iridium Burst makes it possible to transmit data to millions of devices at a time using the high power channels of Iridium\u2019s existing satellite network.<\/p>\n
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Coverage map of the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation \u2013 via Iridium<\/p>\n
It is especially useful for businesses, government agencies and the military to broadcast data. The development is also supported by Colorado-based Aerospace company, SEAKR Engineering, and Virginia-based Satellite company, Satelles Inc as subcontractors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIridium has always been focused on providing innovative, reliable and high-value services to the U.S. warfighter,\u201d said Scott Scheimreif, Executive Vice President of Government Programs at Iridium. \u201cThis program can help add to warfighter readiness to conduct a full range of military operations at a tactical level. This includes the ability to enhance effectiveness of military units, weapons and equipment during combat against near-peer adversaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASA educational resources (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n This project was initiated through an \u201cOther Transaction Agreement\u201d (OTA). The U.S\u2019 Department of Defense created the Other Transaction Agreement to carry out the development and procurement of prototype projects and streamline the process for adopting new technologies.<\/p>\n Iridium\u2019s own Iridium NEXT constellation was launched over the course of eight SpaceX Falcon 9 launches, with replenishment launches on contract with Relativity Space. CEO Matt Desch has also previously mentioned the possibility of Iridium working together with the Starlink constellation. However, the constellation(s) that Iridium will partner with for this newest contract is to be announced.<\/p>\n Iridium\u2019s Operation Arctic Lynx<\/b><\/p>\n Iridium also recently announced a series of partnership-driven field exercises deploying Iridium technologies used by organizations primarily in the latitude of 60 degrees north and stretched as far as 82 degrees north. Named Operation Arctic Lynx (OAL), the exercise will take place until June 26, 2021 and involves the U.S Department of Defense, U.S federal agencies, Alaska state and local organizations, the Canadian government, scientific research organizations, and multiple aerospace industry companies.<\/p>\n