Iridium Nears Launch Campaign Midway Point as All 10 Satellites Arrive at Vandenberg Air Force Base
November 28 2017 - 8:01AM
Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) announced today that all
10 Iridium® NEXT satellites for its fourth launch are now in
processing at SpaceX’s west coast launch site at Vandenberg Air
Force Base in California. This launch will mark the midway point of
Iridium’s launch campaign with SpaceX, and is the first of two
Iridium NEXT launches utilizing “flight-proven” SpaceX Falcon 9
rockets. Iridium-4 is currently scheduled for December 22, 2017 at
5:32 pm PST, with a backup date of December 23rd.
Noteworthy for the fourth launch, the same Falcon 9 rocket first
stage that carried 10 Iridium NEXT satellites for the company’s
second launch in June of 2017, will also carry this payload of 10
satellites. This will make Iridium the first company in history to
reuse the same rocket. Upon arrival at the launch site, each
Iridium NEXT satellite began a number of pre-launch processing
steps, including mating to the dispenser, fueling and encapsulation
within the fairing. The satellites were shipped two at a
time, in specially-designed motion and temperature-controlled
containers designed to maintain optimal environmental
conditions.
“We’re approaching our halfway point on this journey, and with
each launch, we gain more momentum,” said Iridium CEO Matt Desch.
“This launch will bring us to 40 Iridium NEXT satellites in space,
which is more than half the number required for a full Iridium NEXT
operational constellation. It has been remarkable to witness
the increased speed, capacity and throughput of our network as we
continue to replace our original satellites with new Iridium NEXT
satellites.”
The operational Iridium constellation is comprised of 66
satellites divided into six polar orbiting planes with 11
satellites in each plane. Destined for Iridium orbital plane two,
nine of the 10 Iridium NEXT satellites deployed during this launch
will immediately go into service following rigorous testing and
validation. The remaining satellite will undertake a nearly
year-long journey to orbital plane one, where it will serve as a
spare satellite. To date, three Iridium NEXT launches
carrying 10 satellites each have been completed. The fourth launch
will bump the total number of new Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit
to 40. Iridium has contracted with SpaceX to deliver 75 Iridium
NEXT satellites to orbit, 66 operational and nine on-orbit spares,
through a series of eight launches.
Iridium NEXT is the company’s $3 billion next-generation mobile,
global satellite network scheduled for completion in 2018. Iridium
NEXT will replace the Company’s existing global constellation in
one of the largest technology upgrades ever completed in
space. It represents the evolution of critical communications
infrastructure that governments and organizations worldwide rely
upon to drive business, enable connectivity, empower disaster
relief efforts and more. Iridium NEXT will enable and introduce new
services like the Company’s next-generation communications
platform, Iridium CertusSM, and the AireonSM space-based ADS-B
aircraft surveillance and flight tracking network.
For more information about Iridium NEXT, please visit
www.IridiumNEXT.com.
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium is the only mobile voice and data satellite
communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables
connections between people, organizations and assets to and from
anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner
companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of
reliable solutions for markets that require truly global
communications. The company has a major development program
underway for its next-generation network — Iridium NEXT. Iridium
Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and
its common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under
the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium
products, services and partner solutions, visit
www.iridium.com.
Press Contact: Jordan HassinIridium Communications
Inc.Jordan.Hassin@iridium.com +1 (646) 872-0067Twitter:
@Iridiumcomm Investor Contact:Kenneth LevyIridium
Communications Inc.Ken.Levy@Iridium.com+1 (703) 287-7570Twitter:
@IridiumIR
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