Brian Gaff wrote

I notice that this month a new Iridium sat phone satellite is being
launched. Who is funding this these days,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridiu...Present_status

for ages it seemed to be a dead in the water system.

Its too widely used for that.

"Simon Mason" wrote in message
...
Tried my new IRIDIUM 9555 satellite phone today and although I could get a
signal in my conservatory, reception was garbage, so I went outside and
got a full 5 bars. Rang her indoors and apart from the 3 sec time lag, it
was as clear as a bell. Just got to use up the remaining 48m before they
vanish in 23 days.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CxjyQ9MWEAAVZQQ.jpg:large