Iridium
Continues To Draw Bidder Interest
|
More
Information: |
|
|
IR Acquisition Group has submitted
a proposal to acquire the assets of Iridium, LLC, for US$61
million dollars. IR Acquisition Group, headquartered in
Minneapolis, Minn., is composed of space exploration and satellite
technology pioneers, high-ranking military professionals, and
acknowledged leaders in debt and operational restructuring.
Earlier, Merit Studios, an
electronic publisher, and hotJump!, an e-commerce portal shifting
toward wireless Internet commerce, have each made separate
proposals to make use of Iridium's satellite network. Merit has
proposed reconfiguring Iridium's network of satellites with its
own WormHole software capable of recalculating, compressing and
transmitting files - video, sound and document - over the
Internet. Merit's chief executive officer Michael John said he and
a group of private investors have US$100 million to put on the
table. Merit’s engineers believe they can operate the Iridium
network at a cost of US$2.5 million per month, with revenues
coming from licensing data transmission for other companies.
Motorola currently operates the
Iridium network at a cost of US$10 million per month, not
including costs incurred by the 14 gateway operators. Motorola is
not willing to incur any additional costs to operate the system,
and has said over the next two years it would deorbit the
constellation, at a cost of approximately US$50 million.
Iridium
LLC has been in discussions with multiple potential bidders for
parts of the company. There is no further information is available
at this time. Any
bid and any bidder's business plan must earn the approval of the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan before a sale can be made.
Copyright 2001 - Andrews Space & Technology
Andrews Space & Technology Privacy
Statement and Copyright Information
SPACEandTECH Digest is a weekly roundup of the latest industry news of interest
to the space professional. SPACEandTECH Flash! is an internet push
service offered by Andrews Space & Technology to bring the
latest on orders, launches, and important breaking news to your
desktop. SPACEandTECH Digest and SPACEandTECH Flash! are part of
the Andrews Space & Technology www.spaceandtech.com
website, a website designed to serve the information needs of the
space industry.
If you would like to subscribe to the SPACEandTECH
Flash!
(currently a free service), contact the www.spaceandtech.com
Editor-in-Chief, Joe Hopkins, at editor@spaceandtech.com
|
