L26 - Lessons Learned From Galileo and Iridium Flashcards
Business plan for Galileo and why did it fail?
o GNSS in Europe to supplement GPS and GLONASS
o Multi-public-private partnership
o Long development time
o Competition at rival systems level (not contractors for building system)
o Intention was for system to be run by company chosen through selective bidding – didn’t exactly work out like this
o Individual companies/nations trying to solve own interests instead of common interests
o Skyrocketing costs
o Intended use wasn’t clear – civil? military? one encrypted channel for military but the same frequency as used by USA ∴ problem
o Primary focus was political problems, contractors, designing PPPs instead of partnerships based on tech
Business plan for Iridium and why did it fail?
o Global mobile telephony via satellite connection
o System of systems for mobile communication – 66 satellites in polar LEO orbits
o Fast transmission times, small handheld phones (compared to INMARSAT), global coverage, little battery reqs
o Work w/Celestri to expand into broadband (LEO to be fast, GEO to be efficient)
o Market – corporate clientele, general public but in reality mainly military
o 1993-1998 $4.8 billion
o Bankruptcy in one year – purchased by Iridium S5 →Iridium NEXT
o Inaccurate market studies, system limitations w/in buildings
o Long development times, indivisible system architecture/design/ops
o Lucrative markets served by cheaper/easier tech
o Required countries to be ok with telecom through third party – loss of national security
Explain what are some of the potential lessons learned and partnership arrangements that could have assisted
• Objectives/product architecture must be realistic and consider time/strategic environment
• Build and activate system quickly
• Live up to commercial expectations
• Consider national security issues – maybe a public partnership could help this
o Efficient regulation? Control over industry? International partnerships?
• More of a public dominated partnership could have helped Galileo
• PPP could give more money at the start →faster development→early market share dominance and tech build-up around your system (no roaming costs! Global coverage!)
Explain what ATC is and why it is used in the MSS (mobile satellite service) market
• Clear line of sight required to work (device – satellite)
• Ancillary terrestrial component linked to satellite component to form integrated network
o could have helped MSS rebound but not effective in market yet
