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points by ganoushoreilly 1 day ago | 0 comments

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.

[–] spikels 1 day ago

Starlink works at high attitudes. It was a big deal when they got it at McMurdo 4 years ago. Same in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) Alaska.

[–] yesod 1 day ago

Under SOLAS, GMDSS equipment is mandatory on ships. Iridium (and Inmarsat) meet that requirement, starlink does not - hence Iridium is still very much around...