Matt Desch: Iridium Targets Dec. 30 for Final ‘NEXT’ Satellite Launch

by Jane Edwards October 19, 2018, 11:35 am

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Iridium CommunicationsÂ CEOÂ Matt Desch has saidÂ the company plans to launch on Dec. 30 the final batch of Iridium NEXT satellites aboardÂ aÂ SpaceX-builtÂ Falcon 9Â rocket, Teslarati reported Thursday.

Desch said in a tweet the Iridium-8 mission will take off aboard Falcon 9â€™s previously-flown booster from Vandenberg Air Force BaseÂ in California.

He noted the B1049.2 booster would skip a return-to-launch site recovery by trying to land on a SpaceX-made autonomous spaceport drone ship, dubbed Just Read The Instructions, following launch.

The announcement came three months after Iridium launched its seventh batch of NEXT satellites.

autonomous spaceport drone ship booster Falcon 9 Govcon Iridium Communications Iridium NEXT Iridium-8 Matt Desch rocket satellite constellation SpaceX Vandenberg Air Force Base

Written by Jane Edwards

is a staff writer at Executive Mosaic, where she writes for ExecutiveBiz about IT modernization, cybersecurity, space procurement and industry leaders’ perspectives on government technology trends.

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Matt Desch: Iridium Targets Dec. 30 for Final ‘NEXT’ Satellite Launch

Written by Jane Edwards

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