Global mobile satellite communications company Iridium Communications will launch the seventh Iridium NEXT mission by SpaceX-built Falcon 9 rocket next month.
The launch is expected to take place on 20 July from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Iridium NEXT is a $bn next-generation global satellite network programme scheduled to be completed this year.
Equipped with critical communications infrastructure, Iridium NEXT will replace the company’s first generation global constellation.
With a global network of mobile voice and data satellite communications, Iridium enables real-time connectivity between people, organisations and assets.
The Iridium-7 mission will see the launch of ten Iridium NEXT satellites to low Earth orbit.
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By GlobalDataThese satellites will be placed on Iridium orbital plane number 5 and will be tested and validated before beginning operations.
This mission, the second-to-last launch of the planned Iridium NEXT programme, will increase the total number of operating Iridium NEXT satellites in space to 65.
Overall, the Iridium network consists of six polar orbiting planes, each made up of 11 operational crosslinked satellites.
As well as 66 operational crosslinked satellites, there are nine other units serving as on-orbit spares, and six as ground spares.
Once all the satellites from the Iridium-7 mission are operational, plane 5 will be the fourth orbital plane to be comprised entirely of Iridium NEXT satellites.
