{"product_id":"eccentric-orbits-book-john-bloom-9780802121684","title":"Eccentric Orbits","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Good corporate drama . . . an enlightening narrative of how new communications infrastructures often come about.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e, \"A Book of the Year 2016\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the early 1990s, Motorola developed a revolutionary satellite system called Iridium that promised to be its crowning achievement. Its constellation of 66 satellites in polar orbit was a mind-boggling technical accomplishment, surely the future of communication. The only problem was that Iridium the company was a commercial disaster. Only months after launching service, it was $11 billion in debt, burning through $100 million a month and crippled by baroque rate plans and agreements that forced calls through Moscow, Beijing, Fucino, Italy, and elsewhere. Bankruptcy was inevitable--the largest to that point in American history. And when no real buyers seemed to materialize, it looked like Iridium would go down as just a \"science experiment.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThat is, until Dan Colussy got a wild idea. Colussy, a former head of Pan-Am now retired and working on his golf game in Palm Beach, heard about Motorola's plans to \"de-orbit\" the system and decided he would buy Iridium and somehow turn around one of the biggest blunders in the history of business.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eImpeccably researched and wonderfully told, \u003ci\u003eEccentric Orbits\u003c\/i\u003e is a rollicking, unforgettable tale of technological achievement, business failure, the military-industrial complex, and one of the greatest deals of all time.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Deep reporting put forward with epic intentions . . . a story that soars and jumps and dives and digresses . . . [A] big, gutsy, exciting book.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \"A Top 10 Nonfiction Book of 2016\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Spellbinding . . . A tireless researcher, Bloom delivers a superlative history . . . A tour de force.\" --\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49587898384657,"sku":"GOR009457572","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49940934000913,"sku":"CIN0802121683G","price":8.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51579420442897,"sku":"GOR014335612","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53099055546641,"sku":"CIN0802121683VG","price":5.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0802121683.jpg?v=1750745761","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/eccentric-orbits-book-john-bloom-9780802121684","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}