Company attributes
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Orbcomm (also stylized ORBCOMM) specializes in the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), providing solutions that connect businesses to their assets to deliver increased visibility and operational efficiency. The company operates a global network of thirty-one low earth orbit satellites and offers a broad set of asset monitoring and control solutions, including satellite and cellular connectivity, hardware, and applications.
Orbcomm was founded in 1993 by Orbital Sciences and Teleglobe and is headquartered in Rochelle Park, New Jersey. Jerome Eisenberg serves as chairman of the company, which as of February 2021 has more than 2.2 million subscriber communicators. In addition to its LEO satellites, the company operates sixteen gateway Earth stations (GESs) to maintain ground infrastructure and provides service to more than 130 countries worldwide.
ORBCOMM's LEO system was first conceived in the late 1980s by Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital). Orbital filed the world's first license application with the FCC for operation of its small LEO spacecraft network in 1990 and was granted a full license to operate a 200,000 mobile Earth station network.
Orbital's first satellites were launched in April 1992, and in June 1992 the company created an equal partnership with Teleglobe. The two corporations officially created ORBCOMM as a full joint-venture partnership in 1995.
ORBCOMM was purchased in 2001 by private investors, following a halt in funding from Teleglobe and Orbital in 2000.
The company signed a contract with SpaceX in September 2009 to launch ORBCOMM's next-generation OG2 satellite constellation. In the same year, it launched its Automatic Identification System satellite commercial service. The two companies renegotiated their contract in 2012 for another eighteen second-generation satellites.
ORBCOMM has acquired a number of companies for the purposes of intellectual property assimilation and network expansion.
ORBCOMM offers a range of solutions, across a number of markets and industries through its satellite service. These industries include transportation, intermodal shipping, heavy equipment, maritime, natural resources, and government. The company operates a proprietary platform and hardware resources.