Iridium Communications‘ recently launched batch of 10 NEXT satellites began pre-operational testing and validation process with systems functioning nominally. SpaceX launched the satellites Wednesday, bringing the NEXT constellation to 65 satellites, Iridium said Monday. The satellite communications firm aims to launch an eighth batch later this year to complete program. The upcoming set would bring the […] More

Iridium Communications’ seventh batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites took off Wednesday aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch is the seventh of eight Iridium NEXT satellite missions that SpaceX agreed to perform to replace the McLean, Va.-based company’s existing network of 66 satellites in low-Earth orbit, Iridium said Wednesday. […] More

Iridium and Rockwell Collins have partnered to offer an L-band broadband service meant to address connectivity requirements of government, business or commercial aviation clients. Rockwell Collins will serve as an Iridium Certus provider and a value added manufacturer of ground terminals designed to facilitate satellite communications service delivery, Iridium said Monday. Certus is built to employ small form factor antennas and terminals […] More

Airbus’ defense and space business has partnered with Iridium Communications’ subsidiary, Aireon, and introduced an airspace analytics platform at the Farnborough Airshow. Aireon said Thursday it will deliver space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast data to Airbus’ recently launched analytics tool – AirSense – to facilitate real-time aircraft tracking, streamline airspace utilization and flight routes, and boost airport […] More

Iridium Communications has changed its target launch date for a seventh batch of NEXT communications satellites to July 25. The company said Tuesday it rescheduled the Iridium-7 mission in order to give SpaceX more time to prepare the rocket that will carry the satellites into orbit. SpaceX launched the sixth NEXT batch May 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base […] More

Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium Communications and a four-time Wash100 winner, has said the “bring your own device” arrangement is one of the top trends he has observed in the satellite communications sector. “The market is demanding reliable connections through personal mobile devices, regardless of location,” he told CommunicAsia in an interview published Wednesday. According to […] More

Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch and Tim Conway, president of NTT Data’s public sector business, have been appointed to the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s board of directors for fiscal year 2018-2019. Desch is one of the eight executives appointed by Rich Montoni, NVTC board chairman and vice chairman at Maximus, to the trade association’s board, […] More

Scott Scheimreif, executive vice president of government programs at Iridium Communications, has said he believes there will be an increased demand for small-form-factor antennas with agile broadband connectivity that work to support mobile communications during public safety and humanitarians missions. Scheimreif told MilsatMagazine in an interview how several relief organizations communicated through Iridium’s push-to-talk service […] More

Iridium Communications plans to launch on July 20 the seventh batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The planned launch would bring the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit to 65 under a potential $3 billion communications satellite constellation replacement program that […] More

  Seven companies have agreed to serve as Iridium Communications’ service providers for the Iridium Certus broadband capability for maritime applications. The McLean, Va.-based company said Tuesday the distributors of the L band service now include Globecomm, Network Innovations, Pivotel, MVS USA, IEC-Telecom, MetOcean Telematics and Samsan Enterprise Company. Wouter Deknopper, vice president and general […] More

Globecomm has entered into an agreement with Iridium Communications to serve as one of the first maritime distribution partners for Iridium Certus, a new L-band broadband service that uses the Virginia-based firm’s NEXT satellite constellation. Globecomm said in a statement that the agreement allows the company to offer shipowners and operators a broader range of […] More

The five Iridium Communications satellites that Hawthorne, Calif.-based firm SpaceX launched Tuesday have entered the testing and validation phase. “Three of the [Iridium NEXT] satellites from this launch will be going directly in to service in our sixth orbital plane, where the other two will serve as spares,” Iridium Chief Operating Officer Scott Smith said in a […] More