News
Virginia-based Iridium Communications has today launched Project Stardust, an evolution of its direct-to-device (D2D) strategy including3GPP 5G standards-based Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) non-terrestrial network (NTN) service development
The solution will be based on Iridium’s existing low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. The solution will allow the satellites to connect directly to smartphones, cars, tablets and other devices over 5G, enabling them to access messaging and emergency services beyond terrestrial cellular coverage.
The Iridium satellite constellation already supports around 1,300 emergency calls each year. Under Project Stardust this number is expected to greatly increase, as the new technology will allow unmodified smartphones to access the satellite connectivity directly.
Iridium claims that their satellite infrastructure has a number of advantages over other LEO and geostationary satellite networks, thanks to its crosslinked architecture and global L-band spectrum, making it highly reliable.
“This is an exciting moment for Iridium and is a testament to the flexibility and capability built into our satellite constellation,” said Iridium CEO Matt Desch.
“The industry is moving quickly towards a more standards-based approach, and after surveying the field, we found that we’re the best positioned to lead the way using our own network, particularly given our true global coverage,” he continued.
According to the press release, testing will begin next year, with services beginning in 2026.
The solution has been announced after Iridium’s partnership with Qualcomm was terminated last month, after Qualcomm chose not to include Iridium technology in their new devices.
Desch noted his disappointment that “this partnership didn’t bear immediate fruit” in a press release upon the news, although noted that the direction of the market was headed towards increased satellite connectivity in consumer devices.
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