Iridium Sets June 25 Launch Date for 2nd ‘NEXT’ Satellite Batch; Matt Desch Comments

Iridium Communications has moved from June 29 to June 25 the launch of the second batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The new target date will advance the launch of the satellites by four days, Iridium said Thursday.

“Satellites have already started to arrive at the launch site and are undergoing pre-launch preparations, so we’ll be ready to go,” said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium and an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2017.

The first batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites launched in January and started to deliver data and voice transmission services between March and mid-April.

Iridium teamed up with SpaceX to perform eight space launches through mid-2018 to send a total of 75 satellites into low-Earth orbit as part of a program to replace the McLean, Virginia-based company’s existing satellite communications constellation.