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2002 May 08
Launch of two new Iridium Satellites has been scheduled on June 19th
2002 by Russian SS19 Rocket Systems.
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2002 February 13 Iridium
Satellite LLC on Wednesday said it successfully deployed five new spare
satellites, launched by Boeing Co., to help extend the longevity of its
global voice and data network; the deployment of the spare satellites
was part of the plan to extend the life of the network into 2010 and
beyond.
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2001 June 08 Motorola,
manufacturer of the subscriber equipment for the Iridium(R) satellite
system, announced today that the National Security Agency (NSA) has
certified Motorola's Type 1 Iridium Security Module (ISM) for the new
Motorola Satellite Series(TM) 9505 portable telephone. The ISM is
intended for the protection of voice communications at security levels
up to and including Top Secret.
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2001 June 06 Iridium
Satellite LLC today announced the commercial availability of its mobile
satellite data services, including dial-up connectivity and
direct-Internet connections. To fulfill industrial market requirements,
Iridium's dial-up data capability provides connectivity to corporate
data users at 2.4 Kbps, while Iridium's direct-Internet data services
provide an optimized connection to the Internet at 10 Kbps, independent
of the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN).
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2001 April 23 Gino
Picasso(former the president and chief operating officer of AceComm)
was assigned today as president and chief executive of Iridium
Satellite LLC. Picasso will step in today for Dan Colussy. Colussy will
remain as chairman.
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2001 March 28 Iridium
Satellite LLC has announced Commercial Service launch. Anyhow customers
will be able to use service from 10:00am on Friday, March 30, 2001.
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2001 February 27 Commercial
Service will be launched on March 31, 2001. Only in USA and mosst
likely Canada.
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2001 January 09 Iridium
Satellite LLC announced that it has completed the acquisition of the
operating assets of Iridium LLC and its subsidiaries. With the asset
transfer complete, Iridium Satellite LLC now owns all of the former
assets of Iridium LLC, including the satellite constellation, the
terrestrial network, Iridium real property and intellectual property
owned by Iridium LLC.
Iridium Satellite LLC begins service to the U.S. government
immediately. By the end of the 1st quarter of 2001, company will launch
commercial satellite communications services to heavy industry and
other government customers.
Iridium Satellite LLC will begin service with voice and limited data
capabilities. The company expects to offer enhanced data at 10Kbps
within six months of service launch and short burst messaging by the
end of 2001. Iridium satellite also plans to offer specialty equipment
for aviation, maritime and fixed applications. Iridium Satellite LLC
has contracted with the Boeing Company to operate and maintain the
satellite constellation, and Motorola has agreed to provide subscriber
equipment.
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2000 December 07 The
new owners of Iridium said Tuesday they would sell bulk air time that
could vastly expand telecommunications in China, Russia, India and
elsewhere in the developing world. Iridium Satellite LLC, an investor
group, said it had "millions of minutes going to waste" after wrapping
up the $25 million purchase of the 66-satellite, low-orbit network in
bankruptcy court in Manhattan.
"We don't have a shortage" of airtime to wholesale at "extremely
competitive" rates, said Dan Colussy, chairman of the venture. The new
owners plan to market airtime at less than $1.50 a minute to companies
in aviation, maritime services, oil and gas, mining, heavy
construction, forestry and emergency services.
The U.S. Defense Department, citing a growing need for secure
point-to-point communications anywhere on the globe, stepped in last
week to keep the Iridium satellites from being de-orbited. De-orbiting
cast-off hardware is critical to avoid a build-up of debris that could
get in the way of working satellites and space missions. Motorola,
which spent as much as $10 million a month to run the system, had
planned to begin a 14-month phased destruction this month. Under the
Pentagon's keystone deal with the new venture, up to 20,000 U.S.
government users, including U.S. military forces worldwide, will have
unlimited airtime on the network for $3 million a month. The new
company, based in Leesburg, Va., will operate for less than $7 million
a month, free of the old owners' $5 billion debt service.
New owners planned to launch 12 new satellites by about March 2002 to
serve as spares.
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2000 November 22 ,
Iridium Satellite LLC, won conditional court approval to buy the
operating assets of the bankrupt company.
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2000 November 17 A
new company called Iridium Satellite LLC is on the verge of buying the
assets of the bankrupt mobile satellite services company Iridium LLC.
A spokesman on behalf of the new Iridium confirmed that the person
behind the venture is airline veteran Dan Colussy, who in the past has
run Canadian Pacific Airlines and Pan American World Airlines.
Colussy is currently a director of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy
Group.
He also added that a ruling on whether the new venture could buy the
assets was made Thursday. But there has been no official confirmation
of approval from the bankruptcy court to transfer the assets to Iridium
Satellite LLC.
Reports from various sources said the assets, including the
66-satellite Iridium constellation, would be acquired for around US$25
million by Colussy and a group of investors. Some reports said the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York had officially
approved Iridium Satellite's bid to buy all assets of Iridium and its
subsidiaries.
Iridium Satellite plans to relaunch affordable satellite communications
services within 60 days.
Boeing Co. of Seattle is said to have been given the contract to
maintain the satellites in the future.
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2000 September 17 Service
discontinued.
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2000 September 13 Iridium
LLC server (www.iridium.com) is no longer available in the Internet
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2000 August 30 The
bankrupt Iridium venture has received another bid ($30 million) from
California-based organization named CMC International to save the
wireless phone company's $5 billion satellite system from being pulled
from space and destroyed.
Tîday anyone can submit a bid to the New York bankruptcy court
handling the Iridium case, and as the situation turned more dire in
recent weeks, there have been "official" bids for as little as $5
million and even nothing but a pledge to repay debtors over 20 years.
The next court hearing in the case was scheduled for Monday, September,
4.
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2000 August 23 A
bankruptcy court hearing originally set for Wednesday to discuss
possible takeover bids for Iridium had been cancelled because no
qualified buyers emerged.
Motorola is currently finalising a schedule to destroy the 66
satellites of Iridium LLC because the bankrupt satellite telephone it
backed failed to find a buyer.
As Motorola representative explained, "we're putting together a final
schedule to decommission the (satellite) constellation, cause it is
costing us several millions of dollars of month to maintain the
network."
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2000 August 9 A
U.S. bankruptcy court on Wednesday scheduled a hearing for Aug. 23 to
discuss possible bids for bankrupt satellite telephone company Iridium
LLC .
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2000 July 31
A bankruptcy court on Monday gave the Iridium satellite venture a week
and a half to find a buyer for the company's assets or else face a plan
to deorbit its $5 billion network of satellites in space.
Iridium now has until August 9 to try and work out a new deal with
Castle Harlan or another company, such as New York-based Venture
Partners, which expressed interest in the company earlier this year. If
no deal is made by then, Motorola, which operates the satellites for
Iridium, will have approval from the court to begin deorbiting
Iridium's satellite constellation.
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2000 June 14 Chase
Manhattan Bank has sued 17 members of the bankrupt satellite telephone
company Iridium LLC for $242.7 million alleging it was an obligation
triggered when Iridium defaulted on loan payments last year. In papers
filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Delaware, Chase stated the
$800 million loan it made in December, 1998 to subsidiary Iridium
Operating LLC.
One of 17 defendants is Russia's Krunichev State Research and
Production Space Center, which owes $10 million.
The court has scheduled a hearing July 31 on the bidding process for
the Iridium assets and the Chase Manhatten action could have a
significant influence in that process. |
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2000 June 7 At
least three investor groups are bidding to rescue the satellite
operations of Iridium, LLC: Polaris Group, backed by Castle
Harlan, Venture Partners Inc., backed by Huges Global Systems
and General Dynamics and IR Acquisition Group.
Only IR Acquisition Group declared so far its plan to "turn Iridium
into cellphone with a satellite feature. Monthly subscription fee of
$150 will include 1,500 minutes of cellular phone time and 200 minutes
of satellite time". |
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2000 June 1 Investment
firm Castle Harlan, Inc., filed a letter in federal bankruptcy court
expressing its interest in acquiring the assets of Iridium, LLC for $50
million, plus an equity consideration in the successor entity. Proposal
provides for a 45-day period during which the firm would complete the
due diligence to determine the viability of its business plan. |
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2000 May 18 IR
Acquisition Group submitted a proposal to acquire the assets of
Iridium, LLC for $61 million dollars. |
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2000 March 20 Motorolla
appealed to Gateway Operators to continie the provision of services for
the current subscribers until deorbiting is finalized. That means it is
still possible to use the following services: 1) "PSTN - Iridium Phone"
Call, 2) "Iridium Phone - Iridium Phone" Call, 3) paging. |
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2000 March 17 Iridium,
LLC declared termination of services and started liquidation. |