points by diek 1 day ago | 0 comments
Iridium exists today, refreshed their constellation with Iridium NEXT just a few years ago, and was just bought by Rocket Lab for $8 billion.
(disclaimer: my Dad worked there for years)
[–] asa123 1 day ago
the person you are responding to seems to have massively massively downplayed iridium then….
[–] ganoushoreilly 1 day ago
Surprisingly 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.
I 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.
[–] monster_truck 1 day ago
There 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.
[–] jandrese 1 day ago
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.
[–] apendleton 1 day ago
Garden 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.
[–] labcomputer 1 day ago
Iridium 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.
[–] gumby 1 day ago
[–] Slartie 1 day ago
And while you're at it, read "Chip Wars" by Christopher R. Miller as well. Extremely good read to understand tomorrows' most relevant geopolitical conflict.
[–] idoescompooters 4 hours ago