Mary-Louise Hoffman
Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium Communications, told investors Wednesday the company wants to insure its upcoming constellation of NEXT satellites against potential operational risks, Space News reported Thursday.
“We have to place insurance before launch and we’re in that process right now,†he was quoted as saying.
Desch, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2015, said he expects the first two NEXT satellites to launch aboard a Dnepr rocket from a Russian launch site in October or shortly thereafter, according to Space News.
Iridium has also selected SpaceX to help facilitate up to seven launches with the Falcon 9 rocket technology.
Desch noted SpaceX agreed to provide a free satellite relaunch in the event of a launch failure, the report said.
