Iridium Communications Inc. has announced that the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) has selected Iridium and partner Thales Group as its official communications partner, providing critical real-time communications for the fully autonomous transatlantic research vessel.

Anticipated to set sail this year, its first mission will be to take on the same transatlantic crossing of the original 17^th century Mayflower, while gathering critical environmental data regarding climate change, ocean acidity, plastic pollution, marine mammal conservation and more.  

The Thales VesseLINK 700 powered by Iridium Certus onboard the Mayflower Autonomous Ship provides essential connectivity to backhaul vital science data in real time from MAS to a team of ocean and climate experts onshore. Equally important, it enables checking in with the AI captain to see how it’s coping at sea.