Iridium has made a strategic investment in DDK Positioning (DDK), a Scotland-based provider of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) services that use the Iridium satellite network to augment constellations like GPS and Galileo for precision positioning.
Standard positioning accuracy through a system like GPS is typically within 10 metres. However, by using additional information from the Iridium network DDK says that its enhanced accuracy service can offer positioning of five centimetres or less.
The company is currently also developing similar services for other GNSS constellations, such as GLONASS and Beidou. Terms of the investment are not being disclosed.
“We are impressed with the team that DDK has put together and see great potential for this technology and how it takes advantage of the Iridium network,” said Iridium CEO, Matt Desch.
“DDK’s enhanced positioning is a unique capability that adds a high-value solution on top of our existing portfolio of custom network services. Solutions from Iridium and DDK partners that are focused on precision agriculture, autonomous systems, maritime and infrastructure projects can now experience incredibly precise GNSS accuracy from anywhere on the planet.”