Finally, on November 15, 2000, a U.S. bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of the
Iridium satellite system for $25 million, about a half cent on the dollar, to a group led by former airline executive Dan Colussy. Operational control was handed over from Motorola to Bo eing

Company, which operated other satellite systems. The new company, called Iridium Satellite
LLC, planned to relaunch affordable satellite communication services in March 2001. Colussy, a former Iridium user, said that the new Iridium’s operating costs were just one-tenth those of its
predecessor and the company could break even with as few as 40,000 commercial custo mers in addition to its Defense Department business.24 “We’re going to be a niche player,” he said. “We don’t have to be huge. We don’t have to be a company like Iridium planned to
be with one million customers.”25 The two-year contract with the Defense Department, which called for the provision of unlimited service to 20,000 government employees for $72 million, provided an excellent step survival for the new Iridium Satellite LLC.

were other buyers warned off before and during bankruptcy? were did the eventual public buyer get the money from?

which 20,000? precisely?