WASHINGTON – The U.S. Defense Department will pay $3 million per month over the next two years for unlimited use of the Iridium mobile satellite telecommunications system, according to a senior Pentagon official.
The Pentagon will spend another $6 million per year to operate its Iridium gateway station in Hawaii, said Dave Oliver, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
Motorola Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill., the lead investor in Iridium, has been operating the 66-satellite system since a company formed for that purpose, Iridium LLC of Washington, went bankrupt last year.
Motorola’s proposed sale of the Iridium assets to a group of venture capitalists has been approved by the bankruptcy court for the southern district of New York, according to a document distributed by Oliver at a Pentagon briefing Dec. 6. The investors have formed a new company, Iridium Satellite LLC. Boeing Co. of Seattle has agreed to operate the satellites under contract to Iridium Satellite.
Motorola’s approval of the deal was contingent on a Pentagon agreement to indemnify the company against liabilities associated with the design, operation and eventual atmospheric reentry of the Iridium satellites, the document said. Oliver said the Pentagon has agreed to provide the desired indemnification, which covers liabilities in excess of Motorola’s existing insurance policies.
The military needs the Iridium telecommunications service for ships at sea, small-unit operations in areas without satellite coverage, and communications at the Earth’s poles, Oliver said.
The Pentagon decided to make only a two-year commitment to the service to preserve its option to look at comparable services that may materialize in the near future, Oliver said.
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