Iridium Announces Ninth SpaceX LaunchMCLEAN, Va., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced that it has reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch up to five of the company's remaining ground spare satellites from the Iridium® NEXT program, on its Falcon 9 rocket. Known as Iridium-9, the launch is planned to take place at Vandenberg Space Force Base in mid-2023. Earlier this year, Iridium celebrated the 25th anniversary of the first launch in Iridium's history, which also took place from Vandenberg on May 5, 1997. That first ever launch also carried five Iridium satellites to orbit on a Delta II rocket.Iridium-9 will be Iridium's second rideshare with SpaceX. Previously, SpaceX conducted eight Iridium launches between January 2017 and January 2019. These launches delivered 75 satellites to LEO as part of the Iridium NEXT campaign, replacing the company's original satellite constellation. Since completion of the launch campaign in 2019, Iridium has 66 operational satellites, nine on-orbit spares and six additional spares on the ground. Up to five of those six ground spares are planned for launch as part of Iridium-9. All satellites in the upgraded Iridium constellation were built by Thales Alenia Space and carry the Aireon® hosted payload, which provides truly global, real-time surveillance of aircraft around the world."We have always said that when the right opportunity presented itself, we would launch many, if not all, of our remaining ground spares, and just such an opportunity came about," said Iridium CEO Matt Desch. "Our constellation is incredibly healthy; however, the spare satellites have no utility to us on the ground. We built extra satellites as an insurance policy, and with SpaceX's stellar track record, we look forward to another successful launch, which will position us even better to replicate the longevity of our first constellation."Since the completion of the upgraded Iridium network in early 2019, Iridium's customer base grew by more than 730,000 subscribers in just three years and has more than 1.8 million today. With that subscriber growth came several new Iridium products and services, including the Iridium Certus® specialty broadband platform, Iridium's Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, Iridium Global Line of Sight® service for uncrewed and autonomous systems, and over 150 new Iridium narrowband and specialty broadband products brought to market by our partner ecosystem.Iridium remains the only commercial satellite constellation with truly global coverage, offering weather-resilient L-band service from pole-to-pole. The constellation is divided into six polar orbiting planes that each include 11 operational crosslinked satellites. The satellites from Iridium-9 will be launched into a parking orbit, and after initial testing will be drifted to their assigned spare orbits.
I wonder who the co-passenger is. Starlink? Some yet-to-be-announced payload from another customer?
I don't think it'll be Starlink. Can't say why, though.
Quote from: ZachS09 on 09/08/2022 01:42 pmI don't think it'll be Starlink. Can't say why, though.The Iridium satellites are in orbits inclined at 86.4°, compared to 53.0°, 53.2°, 70° and 97.6° for Starlink. The smallest inclination change from 86.4° to 97.6° (or alpha = 11.2°) would have a delta-V penalty of 2*vo*sin(alpha/2) = 2*7.8*sin(11.2/2) = 1.5 km/s! I think that's reason enough why these satellites won't fly with Starlink.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink
...In its second quarter earnings release July 26, Iridium announced it signed a contract for the launch of five satellites for $35 million but did not disclose the launch provider. ...
In an interview between OneWeb and Spaceflight Now, it was stated that OneWeb has a rideshare launch with Iridiumhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=m0eqVKSamZo
Quote from: Josh_from_Canada on 12/08/2022 09:02 pmIn an interview between OneWeb and Spaceflight Now, it was stated that OneWeb has a rideshare launch with Iridiumhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=m0eqVKSamZoLooks like the remaining 32 OneWeb sats and 5 Iridium NEXT spares would narrowly fit in a standard Falcon fairing. Roughly a 10-ton payload, mass is no issue.
OneWeb has launched 464 satellites of a planned first-generation constellation of 648 spacecraft using 13 Russian Soyuz rockets purchased through Arianespace, the French launch services provider, and one flight on an Indian GLSV Mk.3 rocket.
Quote from: vaporcobra on 12/09/2022 12:37 amQuote from: Josh_from_Canada on 12/08/2022 09:02 pmIn an interview between OneWeb and Spaceflight Now, it was stated that OneWeb has a rideshare launch with Iridiumhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=m0eqVKSamZoLooks like the remaining 32 OneWeb sats and 5 Iridium NEXT spares would narrowly fit in a standard Falcon fairing. Roughly a 10-ton payload, mass is no issue.Only 28 satellites are missing to complete Gen 1.QuoteOneWeb has launched 464 satellites of a planned first-generation constellation of 648 spacecraft using 13 Russian Soyuz rockets purchased through Arianespace, the French launch services provider, and one flight on an Indian GLSV Mk.3 rocket.Source : https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/12/07/oneweb-readies-for-15th-launch-and-first-with-spacex/648 Gen 1 satellites- 464 (Oneweb 1 > 14, Soyuz and 1st LVM 3, see quote)- 40 (Oneweb 15, Falcon 9 Dec 8th, 2022)- 40 (next Falcon 9)- 36 (next LVM 3)- 40 (next+1 Falcon 9)= 28 Gen 1 satellites remaining for Iridium rideshare
Maybe OneWeb might loft 4 to 6 additional Gen1 comsat as orbital spares on the rideshare mission. Instead of needing additional launches to send up ground spares or clean room storage for the spares.Think SpaceX can put 2 more comsats on top of their OneWeb dispenser with an adapter plate.
Quote from: Zed_Noir on 12/09/2022 02:33 pmMaybe OneWeb might loft 4 to 6 additional Gen1 comsat as orbital spares on the rideshare mission. Instead of needing additional launches to send up ground spares or clean room storage for the spares.Think SpaceX can put 2 more comsats on top of their OneWeb dispenser with an adapter plate.I don't know about that, but I bet they could fit some onto a Polar Orbit Transporter mission.
The next GSLV will be the last one needed to reach global coverage (36 sats) then we will launch 16 sats early May (15 are Gen1 and 1 is an early demo for Gen2) and we will be left with 20 ground spares to be launched at a later stage .
The last 16 @OneWeb satellites have left the factory going to California for the next launch on Falcon9 @SpaceX
Day 2: @OneWeb satellites have crossed the Mississippi River 🚀🚀🚀
Day 3 : @OneWeb the satellites journey continues . Today Texas