Iridium
SpaceX concludes 2017 with fourth Iridium Next launch
SpaceX closed out its most successful year to date Dec. 22 with the launch of 10 satellites for mobile satellite services operator Iridium, notching a personal best of 18 launches in a single year.
Iridium’s fourth Falcon 9 mission holding to Dec. 22 as other SpaceX missions slip
The fourth SpaceX Falcon 9 mission for mobile satellite communications operator Iridium remains on track for Dec. 22, the company said today, assuaging concerns that the launch would be delayed along with other December missions.
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.
Iridium teams up with LEO Internet of Things startup Magnitude Space
Iridium Communications, in the first of what the company signaled could be many similar partnerships with new smallsat operators, has announced a collaborative agreement with a startup to expand its offerings in the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market.
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.
Iridium open to reused Falcon 9s if it means SpaceX can speed up schedule
Mobile satellite services provider Iridium is willing to use pre-flown Falcon 9 first stage boosters for the second half of its fleet replacement if SpaceX can show that reuse will shorten Iridium’s wait for launches.
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.
SpaceX delays next Iridium launch two months
Iridium Communications says SpaceX has pushed back the launch of its second batch of next-generation satellites from mid-April to mid-June, a move that shifts the expected completion date for Iridium Next to the middle of 2018.
Iridium buys eighth Falcon 9 launch, shares with Earth science mission
Iridium announced Jan. 31 it has purchased an additional Falcon 9 launch from SpaceX that the satellite services company will share with a German-U.S. Earth science mission.
Falcon 9 returns to flight with successful Iridium launch
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, Jan. 14 and successfully delivered ten Iridium Communications satellites into polar orbit.
FAA grants license for SpaceX Falcon 9 return to flight
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued a launch license to SpaceX for the upcoming return to flight of its Falcon 9, although its planned launch has been delayed by at least one day.
SpaceX punts Falcon 9 return-to-flight launch to January
SpaceX has postponed Falcon 9's return-t0-flight launch until early January, the Hawthorne, California-based company announced today (Dec. 7).
EchoStar expects Jan. 8 or 9 SpaceX launch, confronts Brazil and EU deadlines
Satellite fleet operator EchoStar Corp. on Nov. 23 said its EchoStar 23 tri-band telecommunications satellite for Brazil is expected to launch Jan. 8 or Jan. 9 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
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.
