(FORTUNE Magazine) – Watching Iridium's satellites get blown to smithereens is a fitting end to the disastrous project but hardly the most creative. The $5 billion network of 66 satellites was supposed to provide worldwide cellular, Internet, and paging services, passing calls with ease from the Gobi Desert to the Adriatic Sea. But the effort was a debacle from its inception, and a judge ordered Iridium's consortium of owners to disband the satellite system in mid-March. Now the plan is to spend an additional $50 million to knock the satellites out of orbit. When they hit the earth's atmosphere they'll ignite and fall into the sea--hopefully not at a beach near you.

Iridium execs aren't known for their financial savvy (they thought that consumers would pay $3,000 for a handset the size of a brick), but too bad they couldn't figure out a way to recoup their losses. Here are some ideas: The satellites, which are about three feet wide and 13 feet tall, with a 28-foot wingspan, would make a great sculpture or fountain in front of, say, the White House. Or perhaps the government could buy them for fighter pilots to use for target practice. Then there's always Hollywood. Bet George Lucas would kill for such realistic props in his next Star Wars prequel.

--Margaret Boitano