As the targeted first launch date of September 12, 2016 for Iridium NEXT quickly approaches, Iridium and its partners continue to reach key milestones. On Tuesday, June 21st, SpaceX shipped the first Falcon 9 Iridium NEXT satellite dispenser to the Vandenberg Air Force Base launch site in California, and on Monday, June 27th, it was confirmed that the dispenser arrived safely. These events keep the program on schedule and mark significant launch preparation achievements.
SpaceX, Iridium’s launch partner, has been tasked with delivering 70 Iridium NEXT satellites into low Earth orbit, completing the largest tech refresh in satellite communications by replacing the Company’s existing constellation with 66 new operational satellites and launching additional satellites to serve as on-orbit spares. With this partnership came an important challenge – preparing the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into orbit per launch, with seven launches expected by the end of 2017.
In order to accommodate a payload of this size, SpaceX developed a Falcon 9 satellite dispenser unit that was capable of managing the critical-timed separation and deployment of ten satellites from each rocket. These dispensers were built out of a carbon fiber composite to reduce mass, minimize the total number of parts and simplify their composition while increasing structural stiffness and strength. The design of this dispenser places the Iridium NEXT satellite vehicles in two separate stacked tiers around the outside of each dispenser, holding five satellites per tier.
“We’re excited for the upcoming first launch of Iridium NEXT and proud of the work we’ve completed for the Iridium NEXT program. This is one of the heaviest payloads we will fly to-date – 10 Iridium NEXT satellites weighing over 20,000 pounds,” said Kris Kroc, mission manager at SpaceX.
Now that the dispenser is at the launch facility, the team will be running a series of end-to-end electrical tests with the tiers separated, as seen in the accompanying photo.
Iridium is incredibly thankful for all of the hard work, time and resources SpaceX has allotted in order to accommodate the launch program of Iridium NEXT. Stay tuned for more Iridium NEXT program updates coming soon!
For more information about Iridium NEXT, please visit the Iridium website.
In case you missed it, Iridium and its partners, Thales Alenia Space and Orbital ATK, hosted a press conference on Tuesday, June 14th at the Orbital ATK Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Gilbert, Ariz. The event gave select members of the media an inside look into the Iridium NEXT production program and announced the targeted first launch date of Iridium NEXT. Media witnessed the unveiling of the first two ready-to-ship Iridium NEXT satellite vehicles and took part in tours of both the Orbital ATK and Iridium facilities in the greater Phoenix area.
The event kicked off with remarks from Iridium CEO Matt Desch highlighting the company’s history, the marvel of Iridium’s technology and the events that took place to position the company where it is today – about to start launching its next-generation global satellite constellation. Most importantly, the target first launch date of Iridium NEXT was officially announced for September 12, 2016. As explained by Desch, this is the earliest date SpaceX and Vandenberg Air Force Base were able to provide and, though it is later than hoped, Iridium is still on track to fully launch the constellation by the end of 2017. He wrapped up his remarks by re-affirming that the first two Iridium NEXT satellites are “done, done, done” and ready to ship to SpaceX.
Up next on the speaker’s podium was Bertrand Maureau, executive vice president of telecommunication at Thales Alenia Space. His remarks focused on the incredibly talented global teams working on the Iridium NEXT program, and he even listed some very impressive statistics about all of the work that has taken place to reach this historic milestone. To paint a picture of the complexity of this program, Maureau mentioned that over 500,000 lines of code have been created and 100,000 documents have been shared among the team. This kind of effort and hard work, he noted, has resulted in an impressive assembly line production process that will now begin to complete five satellites per month, which is an amazing feat.
To wrap up the press conference, Orbital ATK’s President of the Space Systems Group Frank Culbertson showcased their manufacturing facility which has been able to support and run such an extensive manufacturing program. The factory hosts 18 different work stations where all 81 satellite vehicles will be assembled, integrated and tested for space. Culbertson thanked Gilbert, Ariz. Mayor John Lewis, who was in attendance, for helping create a foreign trade zone in their facility in order to efficiently receive and send all of the necessary components for each Iridium NEXT satellite vehicle. From here, attendees were able to see the first two satellites, which are completed and ready to ship to Vandenberg Air Force Base in preparation for launch.
If you would like to see key portions of the press conference, please go to the video above.
You are currently browsing the IFP blog archives for July, 2016.
(c) 2016 Space Exploration Technologies Corp
