Satellite service provider Iridium Communications declared itself ready to protect critical infrastructure from cyber attacks after completing an acquisition of Satelles, a company specialising in security for GPS and GNSS navigation systems.

Iridium Communications is incorporating Satelles’ Satellite Time and Location (STL) service into its broader portfolio, opening the door to around 500 integration specialists globally.

It stated STL simplifies the task of protecting GPS and GNSS “systems’ time-synchronised applications” from spoofing and jamming attacks “using small, low-cost hardware” which does not need external antennas.

The service “helps secure critical infrastructure, data centres, 5G base stations and applications across the aviation, maritime, land mobile and IoT sectors”.

Iridium Communications added the STL service would employ its constellation of cross-linked low Earth orbit birds to provide “secure time and location signals that are 1,000-times more powerful than GNSS”.

Perhaps more pertinent, it predicted the business line would generate more than $100 million in service revenue per annum by 2030.

When it announced its move for Satelles at the beginning of last month, Iridium Communications noted a prediction revenue in the assured positioning navigation and timing services sector would hit $3.5 billion in 2032.

Iridium Communications already held a 20 per cent stake in Satelles and stated in the acquisition announcement it would pay around $115 million for the remaining 80 per cent, “net of cash remaining in the company”.