NEWS & UPDATES

SpaceX launch completes Iridium satellite refresh

Ten spacecraft have launched from California to complete the $3bn refurbishment of the original satellite phone system, Iridium. A SpaceX Falcon rocket carried the platforms aloft. They will go live in the network in the coming weeks. The original Iridium constellation was put up in the late 90s to link calls to any location on the planet. This function will continue, but the new satellites carry some add-ons to support additional services. One is monitoring technology to surveil the movements of planes. The UK’s air traffic management company, NATS, and…

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A New Era of Global Aircraft Surveillance is on the Horizon as Aireon Completes System Deployment

A successful final Iridium® NEXT launch delivered the remaining 10 Aireon payloads to orbit

MCLEAN, Va. – January 11, 2019 – Aireon announced today a successful eighth and final launch and deployment of the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation hosting the Aireon space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads. At 7:31 AM PST (15:31 UTC) a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and placed the final 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into low earth orbit (LEO). This launch brought the total number of Aireon payloads in orbit to 75 (66 operational payloads and 9 spares), completing the historic launch program…

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