The new agreement is worth $42.6 million, excluding any optional services and subject to certain adjustments that reflect pricing plans the two companies previously agreed on under a launch contract signed in 2009. SpaceX also will provide Orbcomm with satellite-to-launch vehicle integration and launch support services, as well as certain related optional services.

   SpaceX’s Falcon 9 will launch the 18 satellites between the second quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014. “Either Orbcomm or SpaceX may postpone and reschedule either launch service based on satellite and launch vehicle readiness, among other factors, subject to the payment of certain fees by the party requesting or causing the delay following 6 months of delay with respect to either of the two launch services,” the announcement said.

   The new arrangement follows a series of transactions between the two companies. In October, Orbcomm’s OG2 prototype spacecraft was deorbited and declared a total loss after being placed into an incorrect orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. OG2 flew as a secondary payload on the SpaceX CRS-1 cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

   SpaceX detected an anomaly that shut down one of the Falcon 9’s Merlin 1C engines during the Oct. 7 launch. While the incident affected the Orbcomm OG2 satellite, it did not disrupt the rocket’s primary mission of sending the SpaceX Dragon cargo vessel to the ISS.

   Orbcomm established telemetry and command capability with OG2 and performed several critical system verifications before it reentered the atmosphere. The company also deployed its solar array and communications payload antenna, while engineers verified the performance of various components of both the OG2 satellite bus and the communications payload.

   At the time of the prototype loss, Orbcomm CEO Marc Eisenberg said the company would be responsible for the total loss of the OG2 satellite and has filed a claim against an insurance policy that covered the spacecraft for up $10 million, which would mostly offset the expected cost of the satellite and its launch.

   “We appreciate the complexity and work that SpaceX put into this launch,” Eisenberg said in a statement. “SpaceX has been a supportive partner, and we are highly confident in their team and technology. The data will allow it to focus on completing and launching the OG2 satellites as the primary mission payloads on two planned Falcon 9 launches, the first in mid-2013 and the second in 2014, directly into their operational orbit.”

   Orbcomm OG2 was expected to fly as a prototype before SpaceX launched the full constellation of 18 second-generation Orbcomm spacecraft on Falcon 9 vehicles over the next two years.

   “Had Orbcomm been the primary payload on this mission, as planned for the upcoming launches, we believe the OG2 prototype would have reached the desired orbit,” Eisenberg said.

   Orbcomm hopes that the company’s ARPUs should flatten in the next several quarters pending the mid-2013 launch of its first batch of OG2 satellites. Orbcomm’s AIS solution was selected to be the sole provider by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which awarded the company a multi-year contract to provide satellite-based AIS data used for ship tracking and maritime navigation safety efforts.”

   Eisenberg called the milestone a, “major endorsement by EMSA to be the sole provider of AIS because our product provides the best service and value on the market. We also added two heavy equipment customers in recent months.”

   Raymond James Analyst Chris Quilty said that Orbcomm’s new customer add-on rates and revenues could more than double in 2013 with the successful launch of the first batch of OG2 satellites.