Lynk Global missed the launch of a phone connectivity service scheduled for April, the second delay in its plan, one that comes as the company faces increased competition from a host of industry players .
The company was originally aiming for a December 2022 launch, but CEO Charles Miller previously told Mobile World Live that had been repeatedly postponed due to delays and heavy traffic on SpaceX’s rockets.
Miller declined to comment on missing the second launch target.
Lynk Global planned to roll out three more birds around the same time as its commercial launch.
It launched two satellites earlier this year to bring its total to three. The United States Federal Communications Commission has licensed the company to operate ten birds in low Earth orbit.
Caleb Henry, director of research for satellite and space financial research firm Quilty Analytics, told MWL he understands Lynk Global is planning a launch using SpaceX this month or the next, depending on whether additional funding is obtained.
SpaceNews reported that the company is in negotiations with four investors and is separately seeking funding to launch its next three Birds.
Henry said more money would be needed for Lynk Global to meet the deployment goal of 100 satellites, but noted that he found it “difficult to obtain compared to competitors AST SpaceMobile and SpaceX, although it is one of the first to prove directly-to-device technology”.
Lynk Global patented the technology in 2017 and began commercial testing in space in 2019. Its service is designed to work on 2G, 4G and 5G technologies.
