Iridium Communications announced the signing of a agreement with smart shipping pioneer Rolls-Royce Marine (RRM), in support of their autonomous vessel development program.
Iridium claims that it operates the world’s largest, and only pole-to-pole, mobile commercial satellite constellation. The network is comprised of 66 crosslinked LEO satellites that blanket the entire planet with reliable satellite connectivity.
Through this arrangement, RRM and Iridium will work together to explore incorporating Iridium’s next-generation L-band satellite broadband service, Iridium CertusSM, into the RRM suite of Ship Intelligence solutions. By doing so, RRM will have a resilient and reliable broadband capability that can serve as a standalone option or high throughput backup, while expanding the reach of autonomous vessels to all the world’s waterways.
As a leader in the autonomous vessel movement, RRM’s solutions deliver multifaceted enhancements to ships, enabling remote diagnostics, operations and performance monitoring capabilities. Among many offerings, these solutions provide remote access to onshore operators and control centers, delivering real-time connectivity and automation. By automating processes such as navigation, crew are able to focus on more valuable areas of vessel operations helping to streamline overall functionality, ushering in a new digital era of shipping.
Kenneth Solberg, Technical Product Manager, Ship Intelligence, Rolls-Royce Marine
Their new interconnected Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network is able to provide global coverage with low latencies for both coastal and ocean going vessels, while at the same time having the robustness of the L-band.
Wouter Deknopper, VP and GM, Maritime, Iridium
Iridium’s constellation is an ideal network to support autonomous vessels, due to its inherent resiliency, mobility and truly global coverage. Supporting RRM’s revolutionary autonomous vessel initiative is a natural and exciting next step that we are fully equipped to take.
