No body agreed to purchase the satellites and operate them, and the company is not ready to leave them in space for the benefit of radio enthusiasts.
Motorola has begun setting a timetable for dismantling its state-of-the-art Iridium satellite communications system after failing to find a buyer for the $5 billion system.
Motorola has informed the US Bankruptcy Court that it will begin removing the 66 satellites of the system from orbit starting today.
Iridium filed for bankruptcy court after the $5 billion project failed to attract customers. The company already announced in March that it will continue to maintain the Iridium system until the plan to remove the satellites from their orbits is implemented.
"We are preparing a final schedule for removing the satellites from orbit," said company spokesman Scott Wyman. The company did not specify exactly when the satellites will begin to be released, but according to estimates, this will be done soon.
Motorola estimates that they will need about nine months to complete the demolition of the satellites. The satellites will be launched towards Earth and will burn up upon entering the atmosphere. The cost of destroying the satellites is estimated at 50 million dollars.
Iridium tried to sell its assets to Castel Harlan for $50 million in July, but negotiations failed after the investment company found the project unprofitable. Iridium responded to Motorola's satellite demolition program. Craig McCaw, the veteran telecom company, also abandoned the plan to invest 600 million dollars in saving the project.
One of the reasons for the system's failure was the awkwardness and the price of the telephones. The phone costs about $3,000 and requires a different antenna to use inside it.
"Hidan" also adds that requests from radio enthusiasts to use the iridium satellites for transmission were answered in the negative and this is because due to the bankruptcy law, the company must liquidate or sell all its assets.
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