Jane Edwards
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 is set for completion within the year, Iridium said Friday.
Satellites under the Iridium-7 mission will go to the company’s orbital plane 5 and enter service upon completion of the testing and validation phase.
The next-generation satellite network will be composed of six orbital planes that will each contain 11 operational satellites.
The sixth batch of five Iridium NEXT satellites took off on May 22 as part of the rideshare mission and moved to the testing and validation process days after launch.
