Iridium, AWS Partner To offer Satellite IoT Solution

Satellite communications company Iridium Communications has been collaborating with Amazon Web Services to develop a new service dubbed Iridium Cloud Connect, a satellite cloud-based solution that offers global coverage for internet of things applications.

Iridium, which recently joined the AWS partner network, said that the new service will be commercially launched in 2019.

The new offering will make Iridium IoT services available with AWS IoT, extending the reach of AWS’s suite of services to the more than 80% of the planet that lacks cellular coverage, Iridium said.

Additionally, Iridium customers will be able to take advantage of AWS IoT, while existing AWS customers will have a new way to expand their geographic IoT footprint globally.

As part of the new offering, AWS IoT will create a simplified process for companies to integrate Iridium’s satellite reach with AWS. This will allow customers to reduce engineering efforts as well as time to develop new products and services.

With approximately 630,000 active devices as of June 30, 2018, Iridium’s IoT subscribers have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 19% over the last three years.

“Iridium CloudConnect will completely change the speed at which a satellite IoT solution can be deployed and will allow existing AWS customers to keep everything the same on the back end, while opening up the opportunity to quickly expand their coverage,” said Iridium CEO Matt Desch. “This is a major disruption for satellite IoT. Costs will drop, time to market will speed up, risk will be reduced, and AWS IoT customers that choose Iridium CloudConnect can now enjoy true global connectivity for their solutions.”

Iridium operates a constellation of 66 crosslinked satellites. The company is currently in the final phase of its $3 billion initiative to replace its entire original satellite constellation with new satellites, known as Iridium NEXT. To date, seven launches have taken place with launch provider SpaceX, delivering 65 new satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with the final launch of 10 satellites planned for later this year.

Upon completion, a total of 75 Iridium NEXT satellites will have been delivered to space, with 66 in the active constellation and nine serving as on-orbit spares. – Enterprise IoT Insights