Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch has said the company expects its Certus multi-service communications platform to enter the commercial market in 2018 before the complete Iridium NEXT satellite network becomes fully operational. Desch told Runway Girl Network in an interview published Thursday that Iridium eyes the maritime sector for Certus 350 with plans to introduce Certus 700 to the commercial […] More

Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch has said the company’s new Certus multi-service communications platform will focus on cockpit and operational services instead of cabin connectivity, Aviation Today reported Friday. Desch, an inductee into Executive Mosaic‘s Wash100 for 2017, said at Iridium’s second-quarter earnings call that Certus is designed to offer a connection speed of up to 350 kilobits […] More

Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch has said the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation works to help track the location of commercial aircraft across trans-oceanic routes in support of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Air Transportation System program, NASASpaceflight.com reported Friday. Desch said the company has equipped its Iridium NEXT satellites with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast receivers designed to enable planes to communicate […] More

OneWeb has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to launch later this year its constellation of 720 satellites that will work to provide broadband internet services worldwide, Daily Breeze reported Saturday. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai cleared OneWeb’s application on June 22. “We hope to approve many more constellations because we know that the more companies […] More

Iridium Communications’ second batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites lifted off Sunday aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to join the initial batch of satellites that took off in January. The launch brings the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites in space to 20 and marks the second of […] More

Iridium Communications is open to the possibility of using pre-flown first-stage boosters of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to launch Iridium NEXT satellites in 2018 provided that such a move can help reduce wait times for launches, Space News reported Tuesday. “While we are currently flying first flown launches, I’m open to previously flown launches, particularly for the […] More

Iridium Communications has initiated final measures to prepare for the June 25 launch of the second batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Get Connected reported Monday. “Once deployed, this batch of satellites will be tested and validated and inserted one-by-one into our existing constellation, replacing our original block one satellites,” said Matt […] More

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 […] More

Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch has said eight of the first 10 Iridium NEXT satellites that took off in January began to provide data and voice transmission service between March and mid-April, Spaceflight Now reported Friday. Stephen Clark writes Desch said at a quarterly earnings call Thursday that engineers have begun to reposition the two other satellites […] More

Iridium Communications aims to launch the second batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites to low Earth orbit in mid-June aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite communications company said Wednesday the original schedule for the second mission moved from mid-April due to a backlog in the SpaceX launch manifest. “Even with this eight-week shift, SpaceX’s targeted schedule completes our […] More

Iridium Communications has inked an agreement with SpaceX to launch additional communication satellites alongside the twin satellites of a collaborative mission between NASA and the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences. Iridium said Tuesday the launch of five Iridium NEXT satellites with the NASA/GFZ Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On payload aboard a Falcon 9 rocket in early 2018 is the company’s […] More

Iridium Communications‘ long-awaited next-generation satellite constellation will start to take form Sunday night when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. An initial 10 NEXT satellites will enter space then to kick off a seven-launch campaign to deploy 10 space vehicles at a time in a process to replace each […] More