Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) has awarded a contract to Integral Systems, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: ISYS) subsidiary, RT Logic, for the development of a software-defined modem (SDM) for the new feeder link terminals (FLT) to be deployed at Iridium ground stations. “The new teleport network architecture with FLTs at multiple locations will strengthen Iridium’s network reliability even further beyond today’s high levels, provide new layers of built-in redundancy for our existing satellite constellation, and be an integral part of the teleport network architecture that will be the backbone of Iridium NEXT, our next-generation satellite network,” said John Roddy, executive vice president of ground operations and product development at Iridium. Under the development contract, RT Logic will supply two prototype modems for on-orbit test and verification. Iridium expects to complete the development and certification effort by the end of 2010. The SDM will be based on RT Logic’s existing T400XR® COTS product.