Canada Satellite Blog

All 10 satellites deployed, providing telemetry and beginning system checkout

Worldwide Service for Specialty L-Band Broadband Applications Preparing for Commercial Service Debut in 2Q 2018

C-COM’s iNetVu® FLY-981 mobile antenna has been deployed for the past 6 weeks in the Andes mountains of southern Peru at an elevation of 14,900 ft. It may be the highest altitude flyaway antenna unit in operation today.

With less than a week to go, we hope you are as excited as we are for the upcoming Iridium NEXT launch targeted for Monday, October 9 at 5:37AM PDT. The launch will take place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with a back-up date of October 10.

A new firmware release, version 1.5.2, is now available for the Iridium GO!®. This release includes the following user experience enhancements:

Iridium Communications, today announced that all 10 Iridium NEXT satellites for the third launch are onsite at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California.

This summer, we are pleased to introduce to you our new 8XX series receivers, which we are expecting to launch at the end of June. The new receivers offer some exciting features at competitive rates, see details below.

To enhance the overall TV experience, Shaw Direct customers has launched four new HD channels in August 2017: MTV HD, Spike HD, TMN Encore 2 East HD and FXX HD, which is currently in free preview!

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.”