As of last month, the installed base of Iridium aeronautical terminals reached more than 7,500, with an average of more than 300 new units commissioned each month.

"The aviation sector is currently one of the fastest growing markets for Iridium," said Don Thoma, the company's executive vice president. "There is a growing recognition in the marketplace of Iridium's unique value proposition for aeronautical mobile satellite services."

Thoma said Iridium is the only satellite network offering global pole-to-pole coverage without any service gaps. "We offer a range of cost-effective voice and data solutions that are well-suited for the needs of the aviation market," he said.

Iridium also reported its aviation business is growing beyond the core general aviation and business jet market.

"Much of our current growth is in helicopter fleets, especially air ambulance and rescue services," Thoma said. "We are also getting increasing interest from passenger carriers for operational and safety communications on long-distance, over-the-water routes, as well as passenger phone and email services."

He said at the beginning of the year, Israel's El Al Airlines announced the first Iridium-based passenger calling service using prepaid scratch cards on its Boeing 767 long-haul jets.

Iridium said it also has made significant progress in its bid to gain approval from the International Civil Aviation Organization to provide air traffic safety communications.

Last November, ICAO's Air Navigation commission reviewed and accepted the draft Standard and Recommended Practices covering the use of Iridium for Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Service.

The draft SARPs have gone out for comments from ICAO member states and are expected to be approved by the ICAO Council in November 2007. Last May, a special ICAO working group reviewed Iridium's draft technical and implementation manuals.

Iridium's value-added manufacturer, International Communications Group, recently completed successful trials of the first Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System-compliant, Iridium-based messaging solution, working in collaboration with ARINC.

ARINC's Iridium ACARS service will be commercially available in the third quarter of 2006, providing customers with the extended range of Iridium's global satellite network in areas not covered by ACARS VHF systems.

In the business jet sector, Bombardier Aerospace recently announced it will offer dual-channel Iridium satphone systems as standard equipment on its new Challenger 605 widebody business jets, due to enter service in late 2007.

Bombardier also installs Iridium terminals on its other Challenger, Global 5000, Global Express and Learjet business jets.

During the past six months, Iridium's service partners have reported an upsurge in installations for helicopter fleets.

"This has been in part driven by the response to the communications breakdown on the U.S. Gulf Coast after last year's hurricane season, which devastated the region's landlines and cellular infrastructure, leaving satellite phones as the only reliable means of communicating," Thoma said.

Era Helicopters, one of the largest helicopter fleets servicing the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil industry, recently equipped its fleet with Iridium terminals from Sky Connect.

A number of medical transport and rescue helicopter fleets around the world also have begun installing Iridium equipment, not only for voice communications, but also for automatic flight following and remote status reporting as well.

Recent major sales include German Air Rescue service, Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Luxembourg Air Rescue and Washington, D.C.-based MedStar, the Iridium release said.

Thoma said although voice telephony still represents a large percentage of Iridium's overall satellite traffic, data traffic is increasing at twice the rate of voice calls through the network.

This year, Iridium started shipping its new lower-cost 9601 satellite modem to support the growing demand for short-burst data applications. "We expect to see dramatic growth in the use of Iridium for flight following, messaging, remote systems monitoring and Out-Off-On-In reporting," he said.

Thoma said the current Iridium satellite constellation is expected to continue in service through 2014 without the need for new satellites. This year, Iridium initiated an engineering study program to develop plans for the next-generation satellite system.

Iridium has contracted with major industry firms to collect and analyze performance data from its existing satellites. The next step will be to look at the technology and products that will be needed to extend network life for the next two decades and beyond.

"We believe that Iridium is well positioned to continue its rapid market penetration in the aviation industry in the next few years," Thoma said. "We are now by far the largest provider of aeronautical mobile satellite services, and we project continued double-digit growth for the foreseeable future."

He said Iridium will announce plans for new service offerings for the aeronautical sector in the next few months.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Iridium
Satellite Constellation - multiple satellite deployments in LEO and Beyond

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News