LONG BEACH, Calif.-Boeing Commercial Space Co. received a Technical Assistance Agreement from the U.S. Department of State enabling the Sea Launch Failure Review Oversight Board to begin assessing the data and understanding the root cause of the March 12 launch failure.Liftoff of the third...
Having finally gotten back on track financially, ICO Global Communications hit another stumbling block last weekend when the launch of its first satellite placed the payload in the Pacific Ocean, rather than in low earth orbit as intended.The launch took place March 12 aboard...
After spending 10 years and $5.8 billion building and launching a constellation of 66 low-earth-orbit satellites to provide mobile voice and paging services worldwide, Iridium L.L.C. is facing a new countdown-toward extinction.If the company doesn't find someone to replace Craig McCaw as its financial...
Craig McCaw's Eagle River Investments L.L.C. announced it will not invest in Iridium L.L.C., forcing Iridium to look elsewhere for financial backing to pull it out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.Eagle River said it will instead focus its satellite communications investments on bailing out...
DENVER, United States-Globalstar USA became the latest Globalstar L.P. partner to launch full commercial service, completing the company's North American coverage for its mobile satellite phone service, perhaps Globalstar's most important service region.Globalstar USA launched at the same time as Globalstar Canada, while Globalstar...
NEW YORK-Though not for those impatient or faint of heart, satellite-sector investing has reaped handsome rewards overall in recent years and promises better days ahead."Last year's stumblers have addressed their issues and are coming on strong," Thomas W. Watts, first vice president of Merrill...
Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Craig McCaw, swooping in to rescue yet another struggling satellite wireless phone company-leading a group of investors to provide $74.6 million in interim financing for the bankrupt Iridium L.L.C.This is McCaw's second performance in his satellite...
It seems the dark cloud that settled over the mobile satellite services industry when Iridium L.L.C. and ICO Global Communications went bankrupt last August has begun to lift, reflected by a stock rally from Globalstar L.P. indicating renewed investor confidence.Globalstar USA, Globalstar L.P.'s exclusive...
A U.S. bankruptcy court has given ICO Global Communications final approval for $500 million in financing from an investor group led by Craig McCaw and Indian media magnate Subhash Chandra, who had challenged McCaw with a competing financing bid.Under the agreement, McCaw will provide...
Just weeks after a bankruptcy court approved the first part of his plan to bail out the financially struggling ICO Global Communications, Craig McCaw reportedly is close to completing a similar deal to save another bankrupt satellite-based global voice provider-Iridium L.L.C.While officials at Iridium...
ICO Global Communications announced the first $150 million in interim debtor-in-possession financing offer led by Craig McCaw and his Eagle River Investments L.L.C. affiliate has been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, as well as courts in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.The approval of...
ICO Global Communications Ltd. received final commitments for the $1.2 billion in financing needed to finish building its satellite voice network from none other than cellular industry pioneer Craig McCaw.ICO announced at the end of October it had received letters of intent for the...
Bankrupt mobile satellite service provider ICO Global Communications said it has received letters of intent for the first in an expected three-stage debtor-in-possession financing package that, when complete, would total $1.2 billion.The company said the letters of intent cover the first $225 million installment...
GENEVA-Globalstar officially announced at Telecom '99 a phased launch of its mobile satellite service. The phased launch begins with user trials, followed by a soft launch that will allow the company to work out quality issues. Commercial service should begin in early 2000.User trials...
While the bankruptcies of Iridium L.L.C. and ICO Global Communications have cast doubt on the mobile satellite services market, fixed satellite services provider Teledesic L.L.C. believes it may find a way to benefit from these difficulties.Teledesic is wireless visionary Craig McCaw's idea for an...
DUBLIN, Ireland-There has been much debate over the future of satellite-based communications. Indeed, regular readers of the financial press might wonder if it has any future in the new millennium as they follow stories of operational difficulties, disappointing subscriber figures and financial restructuring and...
Besieged by doubts over the very existence of a market for satellite-based voice services, low-earth-orbit carriers are starving for some kind of positive development to feed investors and customers alike.The bankruptcies of LEO carriers Iridium L.L.C. and ICO Global Communications L.P. have reduced confidence...
The second mobile satellite company in less than a month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a U.S. court at the end of August. ICO Global Communications Holdings and three affiliates filed for protection from creditors. This followed Iridium's bankruptcy filing earlier in the...
NEW YORK-Wireless carriers can only imagine scaling back their costly call-flooded customer support centers and slashing the overhead that comes with them. And wireless users long to regain those wasted afternoons on hold with a receiver glued to their ears only to find they've...
The mobile satellite industry is now under extreme pressure to justify itself. With Iridium's and ICO's bankruptcy filings last month, Globalstar is suddenly on the hot seat as industry defender-whether it wants to be or not.Will Globalstar launch initial service on schedule in September...
Adding to the mounting woes of the mobile satellite services industry, ICO Global Communications reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last week.Reuters news service broke the story, citing officials at Hughes Electronics Corp., an ICO equity investor. The Nasdaq Stock Market later...
After defaulting on both its $800 million senior secured credit facility and its $750 million guaranteed credit facility last week, Iridium L.L.C. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.Iridium said the move has the support of banks, bondholders and its strategic partners, and was...
BellSouth Wireless Data L.P. said it has added 195 new base stations to its nationwide network during the first half of the year. The effort is part of an ongoing process of expanding BSWD's Mobitex network to match coverage of existing one-way paging networks,...
ICO Global Communications Ltd. was forced to cancel its rights offering because subscriptions did not meet the minimum total of $500 million for it to be completed by the July 27 deadline.As a result, ICO did not issue any shares under the rights offering....
