Edhat Staff
The latest SpaceX Falcon 9 Iridium successfully launched at 4:39 a.m. Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
10 Iridium NEXT satellites were launched to low earth orbit (LEO). This was the seventh of eight launches planned for the Iridium NEXT constellation, replacing the company’s existing 66 satellite network. Only one more launch of 10 satellites remains until the Iridium NEXT network is completed.
The 10 Iridium NEXT satellites were delivered to orbital plane number five, where they will go into operation immediately following testing and validation. The Iridium network is comprised of six polar orbiting planes, each containing 11 crosslinked satellites for a total of 66 in the operational constellation. Upon activation of all 10 new satellites, orbital plane five will become the fourth Iridium orbital plane to be comprised exclusively of Iridium NEXT satellites. In total, 81 satellites are being built with 75 planned for launch. Nine of the satellites launched will serve as on-orbit spares, and the remaining six will be ground spares.
“This historic constellation refresh is one launch away from completion,” said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. “We know our partners are just as excited about the new network being finished as we are, and how that will bring the full power of the Iridium NEXT constellation to life. We’ve come a long way, and we are particularly excited to see the financial transformation enabled by the completion of the Iridium NEXT system and the associated drop in capital expenditures.”
The latest SpaceX Falcon 9 Iridium launch is scheduled for 4:39 a.m. Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Iridium Communications, in partnership with SpaceX, is prepping to launch 10 Iridium NEXT satellites. SpaceX will launch this seventh set of new satellites on its Falcon 9 rocket to low Earth orbit.
The rocket has an instantaneous launch window scheduled for 4:39:30 am PDT. Once deployed, there will be a total of 65 Iridium NEXT satellites in space.
A live feed of the rocket launch will be available through a SpaceX webcast at www.spacex.com/webcast starting 15 minutes prior to liftoff!
