spacex launching iridium

[The mun]

basically my dad works with a satellite company called iridium and spacex's falcon nine is launching their satellites in 2015. I might go to the launch.

[Motokid600]

I thought iridium was decomissioned? Their satellites are still in orbit tumbling about. Hence the flares there named after.

[Seret]

I think the Iridium constellation is still working, but they did have one smash into another satellite and make a big of a mess a while back. The problem with Iridium was that by the time they got them all launched mobile phones had grown so quickly that there wasn't really any market for satphones except for mad explorers and sailors.

[magnemoe]

I think the Iridium constellation is still working, but they did have one smash into another satellite and make a big of a mess a while back. The problem with Iridium was that by the time they got them all launched mobile phones had grown so quickly that there wasn't really any market for satphones except for mad explorers and sailors.

Add the military, US military pretty much took over the system. Might be more of an marked now, one downside with the first generation Iridium was that it was not well suited for data traffic.

[Thaniel]

So, they intend touse falcon nine for launching then? Did they run out of decomissioned russian ICBM's?

[jwenting]

Since the bankruptcy, only seven additional satellites have been launched but an updated constellation of 66 satellites called Iridium NEXT is currently being developed and is planned for launch between 2015-2017 on SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicles from Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 3 in California.[17]

also sprach Wikipedia, so they're planning to replace the entire constellation.

[Thaniel]

Faulty patcher XD