MCLEAN, Va., June 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium
Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) announced today that the seventh
Iridium® NEXT mission has been targeted by SpaceX for
launch on July 20, 2018, from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch 10
Iridium NEXT satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) from Vandenberg
Air Force Base (VAFB) in California at approximately 5:12 am PDT (12:12
UTC). An exact instantaneous launch window time will be
available closer to the launch date. As the second-to-last launch
of the planned Iridium NEXT program, this mission will increase the
total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in space to 65.
All 10 satellites for this mission will be deployed to Iridium
orbital plane number 5 where they will go into operation
immediately following a thorough testing and validation
process. The Iridium network is comprised of six polar
orbiting planes, each containing 11 operational crosslinked
satellites, for a total of 66 satellites in the active
constellation. Once all the satellites from the Iridium-7 mission
are operational, plane 5 will be the fourth orbital plane to be
comprised entirely of Iridium NEXT satellites. In total, 81
Iridium NEXT satellites are being built, with 66 in the operational
constellation, nine serving as on-orbit spares and six serving as
ground spares.
Iridium NEXT is the company's $3
billion, next-generation, mobile, global satellite network
scheduled for completion in 2018. Iridium NEXT is replacing
the company's first generation 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 on to drive
business, enable connectivity, empower disaster relief efforts and
more.
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.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely
historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The Company has based these statements on its current expectations
and the information currently available to us. Forward-looking
statements in this press release include statements regarding the
timing for deployment of the Iridium NEXT constellation.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words
"anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects,"
"intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are
predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from
any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties
regarding potential delays in the Iridium NEXT deployment and the
company's ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of
its satellite constellation, as well as general industry and
economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and
technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those indicated by the
forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the
caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2017, filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 22, 2018, and in the Company's
Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2018, filed with the SEC on April 26,
2018, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC
from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's
expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions
prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those
expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and
Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking
statements.
Press
Contact:
|
Investor
Contact:
|
Jordan
Hassin
|
Kenneth
Levy
|
Iridium
Communications Inc.
|
Iridium
Communications Inc.
|
+1 (646)
872-0067
|
+1 (703)
287-7570
|
Jordan.Hassin@Iridium.com
|
Ken.Levy@Iridium.com
|
Twitter:
@Iridiumcomm
|
Twitter:
@IridiumIR
|
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SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.