The chief investor to Iridium predicted yesterday that liquidation was one of three options facing the troubled satellite project.

Growney said these prospects included an out-of-court restructuring of the company, an in-court supervised restructuring, or liquidation in bankruptcy. But Growney quickly added that Motorola, which owns 18 percent of Iridium, expected the company to restructure itself successfully with a new business plan.

(A Reuters report filed yesterday said Iridium was not aware of any consideration being given to liquidation. In a telephone interview from its headquarters in Washington, D.C., an Iridium spokeswoman said the company was working with its lenders to reorganize its debt, but was "not aware of any consideration being given to liquidation.")

Growney had better results to announce concerning his own firm. Motorola reported second quarter sales of $7.5 billion, up seven percent from a year ago. Excluding special charges, second quarter earnings of $273 million, or 44 cents a share, were reported yesterday. This compared to $6 million and one cent a share earnings from the year-ago quarter.