Jay Clemens
Iridium Communications has modernized its ground network months prior to its scheduled launch of a new satellite into low-Earth orbit in 2015.
The company replaced the hardware and software systems of five ground stations and 21 antennas worldwide in order for the network to connect with the NEXT satellite constellation, Iridium said Monday.
Scott Smith, chief operating officer at Iridium, said the company believes the ground network is primed to meet the bandwidth and operational requirements of Iridium’s new satellites.
Iridium installed the fresh TelePort network architecture for traffic routing and worked with Thales Alenia Space to test performance of that system.
The company also worked to integrate L3 Datron-built antenna and pedestals into the ground network and implement the RT Logic-developed software-defined modems.
