Iridium Satellite Modem Supply

The Met Office operates a marine weather observation network consisting of 10 offshore buoys, 5 lightvessels (LV) and 60 Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS). Observation data is transmitted globally over satellite back to the Met Office for weather prediction modelling and climate records. Reliable global/offshore communication is essential for the network to operate. Observation data is currently transmitted over the Iridium SBD network using Iridium 9522b modems, with maximum message sizes of 395 bytes for buoy use and 40-80 bytes for Light Vessel and Voluntary Observation Ship use. These platforms operate on solar/battery power arrangements, all proposed solutions should feature low power usage by design to accommodate the limited power supply arrangements available. Met Office intend to issue a framework agreement with one supplier of Integrated Iridium Modems for the following use cases: • SBD based direct replacement for obsolete Iridium 9522b modems (interim solution) • Certus 100/IMT based solutions for increased observation throughput and remote station access