About two years ago I heard from a chilean Entel director that Iridium would build 120 satellites. Don't know where he got that from, but it seemed too high. Some weeks ago I heard of 86 from a Telebras/Embratel official, which is 20% above their 72 sats. Though still high, this number seems more reasonable to me, and hints they have allowed room for failures. No matter what the number is, a 66-sat system is the first biggy one in space and the industry will probably set new failure "standards" for this kind of business.
Has anyone heard of Globalstar's plans for failure? Heard the cost of their system is always getting higher (which evey project does...) and they have been cutting expenses, but I was not in a position to get more specifics . In Brazil they originally were going to start with 5 "gateways", but reduced them to 3. Last I heard of, they were looking for land to build them in a city in Sao Paulo state called Presidente Prudente. Worldwide they would use 200, and now they are talking of 100.
Iridium inaugurated their South American gateway in October, in Rio, and got their license here, one day before. They announced in the press that this was their second gateway worldwide, out of 11 (originally they said they would have 15 to 20). The press also said they had licenses in Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Chile and that these license, together with the Brazilian one, covered more than 80% of their territory. Iridium Brazil, the Brazilian investor, received incentives (deferred state taxes) from the Rio de Janeiro state government to bring the company to Rio. To a stock market analists meeting, Inepar (who owns 55% of Iridium Brazil - the market owns the rest) said this could add over $ 150 million to Iridium Brazil's cashflow during the first 6 years.
I hear little about Globalstar in Brazil (Iridium seems to be the one the papers and magazines are focused on), only this year did they sign with the owner of an important newspaper. Does any one know if there is a similar discussion group in Silicon Investor for Globalstar?
Sorry for this big story, guys. Thought it would be of interest, as it focuses a different part of the world. |
