Iridium NEXT.

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tnt22

ЦитироватьStephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 3 мин. назад

Iridium's Desch: Currently 47 Iridium Next satellites in service, and 19 first-generation Block 1 satellites in service. Three of the five Iridium Next satellites launching next week will go into service in Plane 6, other two will begin their lives as spares.

tnt22

#161
ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 3 мин. назад

Desch: after next week's launch, next Iridium Next launch will be in July, with final launch by the end of the third quarter.

3 мин. назад

Desch: those final two launches will be on new Block 5 Falcon 9 vehicles. Next week's launch will used a previously-flown booster.

tnt22

ЦитироватьJeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 6 мин. назад

Desch: should have all new Iridium Next satellites in place about 30 days after final launch. Plan to lower all older satellites into graveyard orbit perhaps by end of the year, but a few may take 20-25 years to come down.

tnt22

http://spacenews.com/iridium-to-complete-next-generation-satellite-deployment-by-this-fall/
ЦитироватьIridium to complete next-generation satellite deployment by this fall
by Jeff Foust — May 14, 2018


Iridium expects to have its constellation consist entirely of Iridium Next satellites shortly after the final launch, expected by the end of the third quarter of this year. Credit: Iridium

WASHINGTON — Iridium expects to have its next-generation satellite constellation deployed and in service by this fall as it looks to win approvals for new maritime and aviation applications.

In a conference call with reporters May 14, Iridium Chief Executive Matt Desch said the remaining three launches of Iridium Next satellites should be completed by the third quarter of this year, with the satellites in the final positions shortly thereafter.

"All of the satellites are going to be in place within probably about 30 days of our final launch," he said. The Iridium operations team has become more efficient in maneuvering new satellites into their planned orbital slots and putting them into service. "It will be very shortly after our final launch that we will have 100 percent Iridium Next satellites."
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Iridium has launched 50 Iridium Next satellites to date on five SpaceX Falcon 9 launches dating back to January 2017. Of those satellites, Desch said 47 are in service while the other three are drifting to their planned orbital planes.

The next launch of Iridium satellites is now scheduled for May 21, two days later than previously announced, again on a Falcon 9 fr om California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. Desch said that "pretty minor processing issues and preparation of one of the components of the rocket" caused the slip, and that he didn't expect further delays.

Unlike the previous Iridium launches, which were dedicated flights of 10 satellites each, this mission will carry five Iridium Next satellites. The launch will be shared with GRACE-FO, an Earth science mission jointly developed by NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences.

On that launch, the Falcon 9 upper stage will deploy the two GRACE-FO satellites into one orbit, then relight to maneuver to a different orbit for the Iridium satellite deployment. Those satellites will be deployed into orbits not quite the same as those fr om earlier launches, but won't pose a major issue, Desch said.

"It might take just a few more maneuvers of our satellites to get to wh ere they have to get to than they're typically used to," he said. "But it's going to be very close to the orbit we want to be in.

With that launch, three of the six orbital planes will consist entirely of next-generation satellites. The others will be filled out by the final two launches, with the company returning to dedicated launches of 10 satellites each. One launch is scheduled for July, Desch said, with the other before the end of the third quarter.

Those final two launches will use new Block 5 versions of the Falcon 9, which made its debut with a successful launch of a Bangladeshi communications satellite May 11. Next week's launch will use a Falcon 9 with a previously-flown first stage, as was the case with the prior two Iridium launches.

Desch said he had no problems using previously-flown Falcon 9 rockets, and that the switch to the Block 5 for the final two launches is due to a lack of availability of older reused boosters. "We were an early adopter and believe that launching on flight-proven rockets is as safe, if not safer, than launching on new rockets," he said.

In a May 10 call with reporters, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk revealed that that SpaceX was offering a discounted price for Falcon 9 launches with previously-flown boosters: $50 million, versus a list price of $62 million. Desch confirmed that Iridium received a "modest discount" for using reused boosters, but that was not a major factor for the company.

"It's been more about the schedule certainty of being able to use flight-proven [boosters], knowing that we could keep our 18-month to 24-month launch schedule," he said. "That was the biggest reason."

"SpaceX is by far the lowest-cost launch provider today," he added. "I am not demanding much more of a reduction than what we have today, because I believe I'm getting a product — I'm getting a service, really — of high value, higher than I can get from any other supplier."

Seeking new business

Desch also used the call to provide an update on the company's efforts to win new business for the Iridium satellite system. While the company now has more than one million subscribers, with year-over-year growth of nearly 12 percent in the first quarter, the company is seeking to enter new business areas, including maritime communications and aircraft tracking.

The company is currently seeking certification from the International Maritime Organization to provide Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) services from its satellites. If approved, Iridium would be the second satellite communications company, after Inmarsat, to have GMDSS certification.

"We expect to continue make progress in what has been a several-years-old approval process," he said. "The addition of Iridium as a GMDSS provider will bring choice and competition, ending a decades-long monopoly and bring truly global coverage and greater capabilities in a cost-effective way."

Progress on winning that certification is going well, and he expected to win approval and start offering the service by early 2020. "This is really a matter of when, not if," he said.

Another area he cited was efforts by Aireon, whose aircraft-tracking payloads are included on the Iridium Next satellites, to win business. Aireon plans to make an announcement May 16 in cooperation with NATS, the public-private partnership that provides air traffic management services in the United Kingdom. Desch declined to details of any agreement between Aireon and NATS, citing the upcoming announcement.

Aireon is also undergoing an assessment by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Desch was optimistic that the FAA ultimately would become a customer and expected that evaluation process within the FAA to wrap up later this year.

Deorbiting

As Iridium completes the deployment of its next-generation satellite constellation, it's deorbiting the older satellites. Desch said that 25 of its "Block 1" satellites have undergone a deorbiting process wh ere the satellites are moved into lower graveyard orbits. Fifteen of those satellites have reentered and, shortly after the briefing, the company announced the reentry of two more of the older satellites.

Desch used that to raise concerns about orbital debris risks posed by the growing number of cubesats and "megaconstellations" of satellites. "When companies plan to launch hundreds, if not thousands, of small satellites, we're concerned that these new operators may be incentivized to cut corners and take risks to speed up their deployment and lower their costs," he said.

Of particular worry to him was the complete failure of individual satellites, which would prevent them from being deorbited or from maneuvering in the event of a potential collision with another satellite or debris. "If a significant number of their satellites fail, their satellites could be dangerously spaced for hundreds of years, becoming targets for other debris," he said.

Iridium has first-hand experience of this threat from the 2009 collision of the Iridium 33 satellite with the defunct Russian satellite Cosmos 2251. The company has changed its operations since that event, working more closely with the U.S. Air Force to get updated information about satellites that could pose a collision risk, making a judgement about a day out from a potential collision on whether to maneuver. Desch said that the company is averaging about one collision avoidance maneuver a week among its entire satellite constellation.

With the Iridium Next satellites in place late this year, Desch said it's "very possible" that all of its remaining Block 1 satellites could be maneuvered to graveyard orbits by the end of the year. Most of those would reenter in about a year, although as many as four to six could take 20–25 years to reenter.

For each of the deorbited Block 1 satellites, Desch said that the company holds a ceremony. "We try to honor them in their retirement," he said. "We try to picture them feeding birds on a park bench or doing something else for their retirement."
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Pirat5


tnt22

ЦитироватьMatt Desch‏ @IridiumBoss 11 мин. назад

For Iridium NEXT followers, our five Launch 6 satellites are all performing very well. The first 2 (SV110 and SV147) will go into service in two weeks, and the 3rd (SV152) will go into service about 5 days later, completing plane 6 (and 3 full planes!). Other 2: in-orbit spares

tnt22

ЦитироватьIridium Corporate‏Подлинная учетная запись @IridiumComm 55 мин. назад

#IridiumNEXT Update: We're excited to share that 50 Iridium NEXT satellites are now actively providing service. In total, 75 are being launched w/ 9 serving as on-orbit spares. 16 more new SVs are needed to finish this historic upgrade of the original 66 satellite constellation!


tnt22

http://investor.iridium.com/news-releases/news-release-details/iridium-completes-seventh-successful-iridiumr-next-launch
ЦитироватьJuly 25, 2018 at 9:11 AM EDT

Iridium Completes Seventh Successful Iridium® NEXT Launch

One launch remains for Iridium to finish its historic constellation refresh
MCLEAN, Va., July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) announced today that at 04:39:30 am PDT (11:39:30 UTC) a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 10 Iridium NEXT satellites to low earth orbit (LEO). Lifting off fr om Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, 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, ushering in a new era of capabilities, like the Iridium CertusSM broadband service and AireonSM real-time aircraft surveillance system.
Спойлер


Completion of Iridium NEXT will spark both a technological and financial transformation for the company, while providing its partner ecosystem with an unrivaled industry platform for innovation. The Iridium partner ecosystem, consisting of hundreds of companies, plays an invaluable role in the creation, distribution and servicing of Iridium equipment, airtime and applications. Among the new services, Iridium Certus will provide the fastest L-band broadband service globally, turbocharging Iridium satellite connectivity using smaller and more cost-effective terminals. Five industry-leading companies have been sel ected by Iridium as Value Added Manufacturers for Iridium Certus, including Thales, Cobham, Rockwell Collins, L3 Communications and most recently, Gogo. This group of companies has been joined by more than twenty Iridium Certus service providers who will be providing the service for maritime, aviation, Internet of Things, land-mobile and government-related industries.

"This historic constellation refresh is one launch away fr om completion," said Matt Desch, chief executive officer at 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 10 Iridium NEXT satellites launched as part of the seventh mission were delivered to orbital plane number five, wh ere they will go in to 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.
...
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tnt22

#168
https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/iridium-next-constellation-66-operational-satellites-will-make
Цитировать
IRIDIUM NEXT: A CONSTELLATION OF 66 OPERATIONAL SATELLITES THAT WILL MAKE HISTORY
07/25/2018

65 communication satellites in orbit for the Iridium NEXT Constellation
Successful 7th launch of 10 new Iridium NEXT satellites!

Cannes, July 25th, 2018 - The seventh batch of Iridium NEXT satellites built by Thales Alenia Space (JV Thales 67% and Leonardo 33%) has been successfully launched by SpaceX from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The success of this seventh launch for the Iridium NEXT program further solidifies the company's reputation for excelled expertise as prime contractor for sophisticated satellite communications (SATCOM) systems.
Спойлер
Цитировать"Iridium is replacing its existing constellation of 66 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites by sending 75 Iridium NEXT satellites into space, including spares. 65 Iridium NEXT satellites are now in orbit. Overall System Acceptance has been confirmed by Iridium. The last launch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites is nearing now. I am very pleased to confirm that everything is on track to meet Thales Alenia Space's objective, namely to launch all 75 Iridium NEXT LEO satellites in 2018," declared Denis Allard, Iridium NEXT Vice President for Thales Alenia Space.
Thales Alenia Space, the system prime contractor for the Iridium NEXT program, is in charge of engineering, integration, and in-orbit validation of all 81 Iridium NEXT satellites, comprising 66 operational satellites, the remaining 15 satellites will serve as in-orbit and ground spares. The satellites are manufactured in a production line process by Thales Alenia Space's subcontractor Northrop Grumman Corporation (formerly known as Orbital ATK), at its Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Gilbert, Ariz. under the supervision of a dedicated local Thales Alenia Space and Iridium team. Launch and Early Operations (LEOP) and In Orbit Tests are performed by Thales Alenia Space in coordination with Iridium, from Iridium's Satellite Network Operation Center (SNOC) in Leesburg, Va.



Each Iridium NEXT satellite is equipped with star tracker sensors provided by Leonardo to guarantee attitude determination and control.

The Iridium NEXT constellation will offer global connectivity thanks to 66 interconnected satellites at an altitude of 780 km, along with nine spares in parking orbits and six more spare satellites on the ground. This global network provides unrivaled capabilities for communications on the move (individuals, land vehicles, aircraft and ships), and ensures fully global coverage, including the poles and over the ocean.

Thanks to its global coverage and independent operation, not requiring any ground infrastructure, Iridium's network provides vital assistance under very challenging conditions, such as in isolated areas, during natural disasters or during conflicts, to name a few. Its independence from local ground infrastructure delivers secure communications, including protection against intrusion and hacking.

Copyrights: © Thales Alenia Space/Master Image Programmes
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tnt22

ЦитироватьDriving Innovation Through the Iridium Partner Ecosystem

IridiumComm

Опубликовано: 26 июл. 2018 г.

Why are we building the new $3 billion Iridium NEXT network?

To supercharge the innovative solutions that our partners are producing everyday, everywhere around the world. The Iridium partner ecosystem, consisting of hundreds of companies, plays an invaluable role in the creation, distribution and servicing of Iridium equipment, airtime and applications.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ZoZDnZtkwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5ZoZDnZtkw (2:59)

tnt22

ЦитироватьMatt Desch‏ @IridiumBoss 8 ч. назад

L-7 operations update: SV155 & 158 have completed ascents to 700km storage orbit from 625km insertion orbit. 156 finishes tonight, and 159,160,163 & 165 are on their way up. Payload screening continues on many. Primary links will start activating on Thursday. All looking good!


tnt22

ЦитироватьIridium NEXT Seventh Launch Highlights

IridiumComm

Опубликовано: 9 авг. 2018 г.

On July 25, 2018, Iridium successfully launched 10 more Iridium NEXT satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Shortly after deployment, Iridium confirmed successful communication with all 10 new satellites, formally bringing the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit to 65. This leaves just one more launch to complete this ambitious launch program. Here are some of the highlights and memorable moments of this exciting day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWBqiazcaEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWBqiazcaE (2:29)

tnt22

ЦитироватьMatt Desch‏ @IridiumBoss 2 ч. назад

Launch 7 satellite activities complete: 59 of 66 satellites in our constellation are now Iridium NEXT vehicles - 89.4% complete! 4 of 6 planes are all NEXT, with the 5th plane complete in a few weeks when SV153 drifts into position. Launch 8 is NET November now - can't wait!


tnt22

ЦитироватьChris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 7 мин. назад

FEATURE ARTICLE:

Iridium CEO reflects on past and future use of its satellite constellation -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/09/iridium-ceo-past-future-satellite-constellation/ ...

- By Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF)
- Photo of @IridiumBoss by @jdeshetler for NSF.


tnt22

ЦитироватьIridium NEXT: the most sophiticated communications system ever

Thales

Опубликовано: 10 сент. 2018 г.

Iridium NEXT is the world's highest performance and most sophisticated telecommunications constellation in orbit ever. This video was broadcast for the first time during the 2018 World Satellite Business week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm6Zem9h-cEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm6Zem9h-cE (2:18 )

tnt22

https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/iridium-next-setting-standard-constellations
Цитировать
IRIDIUM NEXT – SETTING THE STANDARD IN CONSTELLATIONS
09/10/2018

A complete and complex end-to-end and turnkey telecommunication system
Paris, September 10, 2018 – In the frame of the World Satellite Business Week in Paris, Jean Loïc Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space (joint venture between Thales 67% and Leonardo 33%) and Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium, have presented to the press the Iridium® NEXT stakes and challenges. This telecommunication constellation based on 81 satellites is now the world's highest performance and most sophisticated constellation, 65 satellites have already been deployed in 7 launches.

The challenge for Thales Alenia Space was not only to deliver in orbit a large series of satellites, but above all to commission a complete and complex turnkey system, while also ensuring the compatibility between the first and next generation of Iridium satellites. It's the first time that an operator and a manufacturer have worked hand in hand to replace a full constellation of 66 satellites, one by one, without interrupting user service.
Спойлер


The Iridium® NEXT constellation is now virtually complete and it's up and running. It represents today's state of the art in terms of technology and flexibility. These latest-generation technologies embarked are the key to total flexibility for users, since we offer both global coverage and independence from any user ground segment. This independence will guarantee communications at any time, even during natural disasters and means that the constellation can provide secure communications, including protection against intrusion and piracy.
Цитировать« To deliver such a very large and complex constellation, comprising satellites weighing some 850 kilos at launch, we had to rethink how to manage our supply chain and our own industrial processes in addition to achieve impressive technological challenges", declared Jean Loïc Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space. "Iridium NEXT is today the highest performance and most sophisticated constellation ever built and we are proud for having risen this challenge allowing us to offer a world class expertise to the market".
Цитировать"The Iridium network is unique in many ways, and the requirements to replace the network were more complex and challenging than perhaps anything in space, other than the creation of the system 20 years ago," said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. "Thales Alenia Space took this challenge head-on, and today we've nearly replaced the entire network with state-of-the-art satellites that allow us to bring a new generation of technology, like our Iridium CertusSM broadband service, to our more than 1 million customers around the world."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm6Zem9h-cE

Technical details

Slot swap
Satellite Low Earth Orbit Operation and in-orbit testing are handled by Thales Alenia Space teams from the Iridium satellite control center in Leesburg, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. The satellites are launched in clusters of 10, and due to the low Earth orbit, only 10 minutes per orbit are available to send up commands from ground stations. This means that the teams have to prepare meticulously and pay attention every second so they can maximize the operations performed during those 10 critical minutes. The satellites are then placed into the correct orbital position, one by one, before control is transferred to Iridium for the slot swap operation. Iridium teams handle these tasks with support from Thales Alenia Space, based on procedures that Thales Alenia Space already defined and validated. Each Iridium NEXT satellite is equipped with star tracker sensors provided by Leonardo to guarantee attitude determination and control.

Routing communications signals in orbit
Each satellite is connected to the four closest satellites in the system, in front, behind, to the right and left, making the service totally independent from any ground-based network. This in-orbit routing function is completely software driven, based on an onboard processor and a platform computer, along with their software. This software is the most complex used on a constellation of satellites to date. It can be uploaded from the ground, which means that updates can be made if necessary, as well as deploying higher-performance versions so that Iridium can expand its service offering to customers.



Read Thales Alenia Space CEO's publication on that topic: click here

Photos & video: © Thales Alenia Space/Master Image Programmes
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tnt22

ЦитироватьMichael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 12:37 - 5 дек. 2018 г.

Iridium-8 has slipped to 2019 according to Koenigsmann.

tnt22

ЦитироватьChris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 20 мин. назад

FEATURE ARTICLE:
Exploring what's next for Iridium after final NEXT constellation launch -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/01/exploring-next-iridium-final-launch/ ...

- By Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF) via an interview with Matt Desch (@IridiumBoss)

tnt22

http://investor.iridium.com/2019-02-06-Iridium-Declares-Victory-3-Billion-Satellite-Constellation-Upgrade-Complete
ЦитироватьIridium Declares Victory; $3 Billion Satellite Constellation Upgrade Complete
Company Introduces New Small Form-Factor Transceiver Set to Transform Remote IoT Capabilities, Globally

MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today hailed the completion of its $3 billion satellite constellation upgrade campaign known as Iridium® NEXT, during a press conference held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. During the press conference, the company also used the opportunity to introduce a new small-form-factor transceiver known as the Iridium CertusSM 9770, which will enable creation of new consumer and industrial applications that are highly portable and IoT-friendly, optimized for small size and low cost, yet with higher speeds than in the past thanks to the upgraded Iridium satellite network.

The completion of the Iridium NEXT campaign comes as the final two satellites required to complete the network refresh were activated on February 5th at approximately 2:15 p.m. EST. With a fully operational constellation, featuring 66 new Iridium satellites and no further launches planned, Iridium has concluded its nearly decade-long capital-intensive program that created an upgraded network both in space and on the ground. After spending several hundred million dollars per year to build and deploy the new network, Iridium expects capital costs to decrease to approximately $35 million per year, with revenues continuing to grow as the company expands into newer revenue streams like broadband, IoT and hosted payloads.

https://prnewswire2-a.akamaihd.net/p/1893751/sp/189375100/serveFlavor/entryId/1_m6b5hubc/flavorId/1_qoayc0dv/prn_folder/MNR/prn_id/Republish+Order+Part%3a+35368201+file+identifier%3a+1625872/prn_flavor/HD_MP4/prn_filename/761-Iridium-Press-Conference-Web-Ready-1.mp4

"The completion of the Iridium NEXT program signifies a new chapter in the Iridium story, one that sees us transforming from a big cash spender to a big cash generator," said Iridium CEO Matt Desch. "This is the realization of a long, successful climb, and reaching the peak, it's gratifying to know the future of the company is secure, and we have now financially matured as a satellite operator. Huge thanks are in order to our entire team, particularly our friends at SpaceX and our prime satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space and their teams."
Спойлер
First announced in 2010, the Iridium NEXT campaign featured eight launches with SpaceX. In total, 81 satellites were built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, of which 75 were launched, with 66 in the operational constellation and nine serving as on-orbit spares. Thales Alenia Space was responsible for design and integration of the new satellites, including launch and early operations testing in partnership with Iridium's team at the company's Satellite Network Operations Center in Virginia.

The upgraded Iridium constellation enables never before possible services such as the AireonSM global aircraft tracking and surveillance system and Iridium Certus, the company's new broadband service, which launched commercially in January 2019. The upgraded network is also fully compatible with the original satellite constellation's services, a notable accomplishment given the size and scope of the upgrade.

Jean-Loic Galle, CEO of Thales Alenia Space remarked: "The 75 in-orbit satellites are working very well, and the overall end-to-end performance improvement for existing customers is dramatic. Two years after the first launch, Iridium NEXT, one of the most sophisticated communication systems in the world, is now totally deployed and fully operational. All the satellites are interconnected, and we have ensured a continuity of service without any interruption. We did it! And we did it together – together with the Iridium team, our customer with whom we worked all these years much more as a partner than as a customer, together with Northrop Grumman, with all our subcontractors, and with SpaceX. I'm convinced this one-team spirit was the secret of that success story."

The new Iridium Certus 9770 transceiver, also introduced during today's press conference, is a game changer for satellite IoT, aviation, maritime and consumer services, enabling low-cost, small devices that can make more efficient and higher speed connections than its predecessors. Built on the Iridium Certus technology platform, applications and devices made with the new transceiver will feature a range of speeds optimized for efficiently sending data to and from the user, typically in the range of less than 100kbps. The Iridium Certus 9770 is the first in a series of new devices that will augment Iridium's existing transceivers with approximately the same form-factor as existing narrowband antennas used widely today in aviation, maritime, IoT and land-mobile markets, but using native IP technology at up to 35 times the speed as current devices. This supports telemetry, pictures, high-quality voice calling, emails, internet access and more, at highly competitive prices. Sel ect licensed manufacturers of Iridium can expect to receive prototypes of the device around mid-2019.

The Iridium satellite network is comprised of 66 crosslinked satellites that create a web of coverage around the entire planet. Unlike other satellite systems, Iridium's crosslinked architecture enables real-time transit of data to and fr om any location on the globe without the need for abundant ground stations and allows it to maintain consistent, high-quality coverage, including over the oceans and polar regions.
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SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.

tnt22

https://www.iridium.com/blog/2019/02/08/iridium-next-review/
ЦитироватьIridium® NEXT: in Review

by Iridium Communications | Feb 8, 2019 | CorporateFeatured StoriesIndustry HeadlinesIridium NEXT

Iridium® NEXT has been a historic mission here at Iridium, and in the space industry as a whole! Our team was able to completely replace the original Iridium constellation with all new, upgraded satellites, enabling new, faster services like Iridium CertusSM – all without disrupting service for our existing users!

A few days ago, we completed the transition of 100 percent of our services to the new satellites. As we celebrate this exciting milestone, let's take a look back at the stats that shaped the largest tech refresh in space history!



Iridium NEXT: By the Numbers
    [/li]
  • Approximately $3 Billion invested in the Iridium NEXT satellite replacement program since it was announced in 2007
  • 81 satellites built by Thales Alenia Space, with 66 in the active constellation, 9 in-orbit spares, and 6 ground spares
  • 8 successful Iridium NEXT launches with SpaceX in less than 2 years. Each launch sent 10 satellites into space – except Launch 6, which sent 5 during a historic rideshare mission with NASA
  • Continued to provide uninterrupted communications to 100% of the planet
  • Enabled the 1st ever truly global broadband service: Iridium Certus
  • 22 Iridium NEXT mission partners involved in bringing the upgraded constellation to life
  • Each satellite is crosslinked to up to 4 others – 2 in the same orbital plane and 1 in each adjacent plane, enabling continuous connections at a lower latency
  • hosted payloads on each satellite, enabling the aviation and maritime industries to take advantage of real-time, truly global surveillance systems
The Iridium NEXT launch mission wasn't all we were up to in the past few years, though! While we finished launching 75 new satellites into space (66 in the active constellation and 9 in-orbit spares), in 2018 we also...
    [/li]
  • Broke a 20year monopoly on GMDSS, becoming the 2nd ever recognized provider for GMDSS satellite services to the maritime community
  • Introduced Iridium CloudConnect, which will enable Amazon Web Services IoT to be available to the 80%+ of the planet currently lacking communications coverage
  • Partnered with ICOM to begin development on the world's 1st truly global push-to-talk only (PTT) radio handheld
  • Became the preferred provider of satellite communications for The Ocean Cleanup, an ambitious project to rid the world's oceans of plastic garbage and perform the largest ocean cleanup in history – starting with 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch every 5 years