Iridium is now one step closer to enabling mass-market smartphones to connect with its satellites, the company announced after getting permission to advance its Project Stardust direct-to-device strategy.
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the consortium that sets global communications standards for 5G, has approved Iridium’s proposal to include space-based Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) connectivity as an official work item in its Release 19 standards.
The approval will enable trials and demonstrations showing how devices using industry-standard chips could use Iridium’s network for messaging and SOS services outside cellular coverage. Iridium spokesperson Jordan Hassin said via email that some manufacturers may want to produce integrated chips before the 3GPP’s next round of standards, which is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2025, now that the company’s proposal is one of the formal items for inclusion in Release 17.
Iridium had previously planned to deploy proprietary direct-to-device services for Android devices in partnership with chipmaker Qualcomm. However, Qualcomm scrapped plans to make specialized chips for the constellation last year after failing to get manufacturers of smartphones and other devices onboard.
“We’re already well into our technology development, and we’re excited about our progress and to see so much enthusiasm from the 3GPP community,” said Iridium chief technology officer Greg Pelton. “As a cloud-based service powered by the flexibility of our software-defined satellites and building upon recognized industry standards, we’ve been able to jump off to a super-fast start.”
Iridium said it has already demonstrated its direct-to-device capability in a lab environment and is planning to test its service, now called Iridium NTN (non-terrestrial network) Direct, in early 2024.
Iridium says its LEO constellation can enable a lower-power connection than using geostationary satellites, which are further away from Earth.
U.S. telco Verizon is planning to launch space-enabled emergency text and location services for Android smartphones that can connect to geostationary L-band satellites via the latest standards-based chipsets. Meanwhile, Iridium’s mobile satellite services rival Globalstar has been using its L-band network to enable SOS services on Apple’s latest iPhones since 2022.
Companies like SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile, and Lynk Global are developing LEO constellations that can reach smartphones already in circulation by using spectrum from cellular partners.