Telephone for the World:: Iridium, Motorola, and the Making of a Global AgeIn June 1990, Motorola publicly announced an ambitious business venture called Iridium. The project's signature feature was a constellation of 77 satellites in low Earth orbit which served as the equivalent of cellular towers, connecting to mobile customers below using wireless hand held phones. As one of the founding engineers noted, the constellation ""bathed the planet in radiation,"" enabling a completely global communications system. Focusing on