spacetoday.net: Iridium picks finalists for new satellite system

Posted: Wed, Aug 6, 2008, 7:33 AM ET (1133 GMT)
Iridium Satellite LLC announced this week that it has selected two companies, Lockheed Martin and Thales Alenia Space, as finalists for the contract to build the company's next-generation satellite system. Lockheed and Thales, along with Space Systems/Loral, in March to perform studies for the Iridium's "NEXT" system; the two remaining companies will perform more detailed studies culminating in the selection of a prime contractor for NEXT by mid-2009. The NEXT system will serve as the replacement for Iridium's existing satellite system, launched in the late 1990s and expected to remain operational until at least 2014. The NEXT system will support the ability to carry secondary payloads that could be used for remote sensing or other applications in addition to the satellite's primary communications payload. Iridium also reported this week earnings of $25.8 million in the second quarter of 2008 on revenues of $81.7 million, compared to earnings of $20.2 million on $66.7 million in the same quarter of 2007.