Iridium, the satellite mobile phone company, has been working hard to re-invent itself following its 1999 bankruptcy. Last September it returned to the stock marketplace through a reverse takeover, and has set about raising cash for a new fleet of low-earth orbiting satellites.
In the 1990s Iridium launched with the concept of selling satphones to a wide user market, but was quickly overtaken by the mobile telephone industry. It became chiefly a niche provider of phones to aid workers and also the military.
Now, Matt Desch, chief executive, believes there could be a big new market to become exploited in monitoring all sorts of objects, from trucks and cargo containers to polar bears, by satellite phone .
Iridium was hopeful of getting backing for that $2.7bn project from either the US or French export credit agency
Now there is a snag. One-time parent company Motorola, which spun out Iridium in 1998, is suing the company for "at least $24.68m", related to old loan agreements in between the two companies. More worryingly, Motorola could terminate crucial intellectual property licences for Iridium, which would allow it to be impossible for the company to run its satellite system.
Without having usable IP, there will not be much point in building or launching the satellites, even when the money can be raised. Iridium says it is still in talks with Motorola to resolve the concern, but the case could well wind up in court.
If this leads to delays, its terrible news. Iridium's existing satellites are not getting any younger - they need to be modified in the next four years or so - and other competitors for example Inmarsat, Orbcomm and Globalstar are preparing rival services.
Iridium shares, which debuted at around $10 have now lost around 30 per cent of their value.
The Motorola concern demonstrates once again the dangers of the space industry. In orbit, the satellites are at danger of colliding with space junk - one Iridium satellite was taken out just last year when it crashed with a defunct Russian satellite . On the ground, it risks being hit by the legal debris of its previous financial collapse.
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