Iridium Next
Iridium switches next two launches to pre-flown Falcon 9s to preserve schedule
Mobile satellite services provider Iridium will use previously flown Falcon 9 first stages for its next two launches in order not to miss its mid-2018 goal for completing the Iridium Next constellation.
SpaceX launches third set of Iridium Next satellites
SpaceX carried out the third of eight missions for Iridium Communications early Oct. 9, launching ten more Iridium Next satellites on a Falcon 9 from California.
SpaceX sets Sept. 30 for third Iridium Next launch
Mobile satellite services operator Iridium announced July 28 that SpaceX will conduct the third launch in its fleet replenishment Sept. 30 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
SpaceX launches second batch of Iridium satellites
SpaceX completed a “doubleheader” of launches June 25 with the launch of a second set of next-generation Iridium satellites from California, two days after another Falcon 9 from the East Coast.
Upcoming SpaceX launch will be first West Coast test of automated flight-termination system
The system uses GPS data and onboard computers to monitor the rocket's trajectory and destroy it should it go off course. It was first tested earlier this year on a Falcon 9 launch from the Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX’s next Iridium launch moved up four days
SpaceX moved the launch date for the second Iridium Next mission ahead by four days thanks to new range availability at Vandenberg Air Force Base, mobile satellite service provider Iridium announced today.
Iridium starting to deorbit legacy satellites as Next constellation comes online
Now that its first batch of next generation satellites is in orbit and operational, mobile satellite services provider Iridium is preparing deorbit procedures for its legacy fleet of low-Earth orbit satellites that launched in the late 1990s.
Iridium plans to launch four more sets of next-generation satellites this year
CEO Matt Desch said the next batch of 10 Iridium Next satellites is scheduled for launch June 29.
U.S. defense agency encourages allied nations to join unlimited-use Iridium program
The agency providing U.S. government access to Iridium’s global constellation of mobile communications satellites on Nov. 9 urged other nations to join the program to take advantage of its fixed-price, unlimited-access feature.
Iridium expects to renegotiate loan agreement by year’s end
Mobile satellite services provider Iridium Communications expects to complete negotiations with its lenders and its satellite manufacturer by the end of the year ro loosen payment obligations to ride out the delay in the launch of its second-generation constellation.
Iridium remains fully behind SpaceX as Musk hints at difficult investigation
The commercial company with arguably the most at stake in a quick and successful return to flight of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on Sept. 8 gave a ringing endorsement of the launch-service provider even as SpaceX founder Elon Musk issued statements saying the investigation will be complicated.
