DDK positioning The solutions use the Iridium satellite constellation to provide 5cm GNSS accuracy to industrial Internet of Things (IoT) users.

Iridium Communications Inc. made a strategic investment in DDK Positioning, an Aberdeen, Scotland-based provider of enhanced GNSS precision solutions.

DDK uses the Iridium network to provide precision global positioning services that can augment GNSS constellations, including GPS and Galileo, to dramatically improve their accuracy for critical industrial applications.

DDK is developing similar services for other GNSS constellations, such as GLONASS and Beidou. Terms of the investment are not disclosed.

Standard positioning accuracy with a system like GPS is typically less than 10 meters; However, using the Iridium network, DDK’s enhanced GPS accuracy service provides incredibly accurate positioning of 5cm or less. This advanced level of precision is suitable for autonomous vehicles such as drones, precision agriculture applications, offshore infrastructure projects such as wind farm construction, automotive applications such as driverless cars, as well as a multitude of construction, mining, surveying and IoT use cases.

Historically, the options of geostationary satellite providers for this type of service have been limited, but they suffer from line-of-sight blocking issues and coverage limitations in and around the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

“We are delighted to have embarked on this journey with such a strong and respected company as Iridium,” said Kevin Gaffney, CEO of DDK Positioning. “This partnership suits DDK Positioning perfectly. With Iridium’s satellite communications network and our GNSS solution, we are able to provide a truly unique, robust, resilient and secure service. The investment made by Iridium will also allow us to further develop the business while expanding our service offering globally.

Augmentation services like those offered by DDK will account for $ 76.5 billion (€ 65 billion) in global GNSS market revenue by 2029, according to a report released by the European GNSS Agency. Global downstream GNSS market, including the services provided and hardware peripherals, is estimated at $ 382 billion (€ 325 billion).

“We are impressed with the team that DDK has assembled and see great potential for this technology and how it leverages the Iridium network,” said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. “DDK’s improved positioning is a unique capability that adds a high-value solution on top of our existing portfolio of custom network services. Iridium and DDK partner solutions that focus on precision agriculture, autonomous systems, marine and infrastructure projects can now benefit from incredibly precise GNSS accuracy from anywhere on the planet.