Motorola Plans Satellite System

CHICAGO — Motorola Inc., whose cellular phone equipment business has been booming, said Wednesday that it will unveil plans next week to develop a global communications system.

The Schaumburg, Ill.-based maker of electronic equipment and components is planning a vast system with dozens of satellites in low orbit to bypass earthbound telephone switching systems, industry analysts said.

“The company has some rather grandiose notions about what kind of communications company it will be in the 21st Century,” said Richard Whittington of Kidder, Peabody & Co.

The analysts said Motorola’s desire to expand in the fast-growing communications business, rather than be primarily an equipment supplier, was risky but could prove lucrative later in the 1990s.

Numerous hurdles remain, including launching the satellites.