Iridium Seeks Information For Next-Generation Satellite System

Iridium Satellite released a request for information to potential partners interested in participating in the design, development and deployment of its Next network, the company announced July 2.

Iridium unveiled plans in February to spend more than $2 billion to build and deploy a second-generation satellite constellation dubbed Iridium Next. Plans call for the 66-satellite system to be rolled out incrementally, with a portion of the cost funded through cash flow, which is about $60 million per year, and the remainder from capital markets and strategic partners.

“Releasing [a request for information] is an important step in the design and procurement of Next,” Don Thoma, Iridium’s executive vice president, said in a statement. “We are looking for the most innovative and experienced companies in the industry to help us with our deployment.”