Iridium partners with L3 Harris for FAA infrastructure protection

Iridium STL is being deployed by L3Harris to protect critical FAA data center infrastructure. (Photo: Iridium)

Iridium Communications has entered a five-year agreement with L3 Harris. Under the agreement, Iridium will provide its satellite time and location (STL) service to more than three dozen L3Harris-operated communications network backbone nodes and a similar number of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilities throughout the United States.

L3Harris, responsible for operating a private network for the FAA, provides voice, data and video communications for the National Airspace System operations and mission support functions. Given the critical nature of timing synchronization within the L3Harris communications network, particularly for supporting various critical infrastructure applications, the Iridium STL service plays a pivotal role in the overall network timing architecture by eliminating dependencies on GPS as the primary timing source.

The solution for L3Harris includes compact devices provided by Adtran’s Oscilloquartz division, which are designed to receive Iridium STL signals. These devices seamlessly integrate into the network and meet nationwide network timing synchronization requirements.

In April 2024, Iridium acquired Satelles, a secure satellite-based time and location service provider.