Iridium

Iridium Communications Inc. announced yesterday that the upcoming Iridium NEXT launch has been targeted for September 30, 2017 at 6:30 a.m. PDT. This launch will deliver another 10 Iridium NEXT satellites to orbit on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and will bring the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites deployed to 30. SpaceX selected the September 30th launch date based on rocket and Vandenberg Air Force Base range availability. SpaceX’s targeted launch schedule accommodates completion of the Iridium NEXT constellation as planned in mid-2018. In total, SpaceX will deliver 75 Iridium NEXT satellites to orbit. In case of inclement weather, a backup launch date has been scheduled for October 1.

In this industry, innovation, precision and collaboration are key in bringing revolutionary technologies to market. As Iridium CEO Matt Desch has said, “In the satellite space industry, we have to work with others. Partnerships are crucial, and ours with SpaceX proves how important it is to work together to be successful.”

Iridium Communications announced today that the second set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites, launched yesterday by SpaceX, are functioning nominally and have begun the testing and validation process. This batch of 10 satellites was launched out of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, increasing the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in space to 20.

Today, January 14, 2017, marks a historic day in Iridium history – the first payload of ten Iridium NEXT satellites have been launched and deployed into low-Earth orbit (LEO) by our launch partner, SpaceX. This highly anticipated first launch took place at SpaceX’s west coast launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, at approximately 9:54:39 am PST.