DocM Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 (edited) Launch 1 of 7, satellites 1-10, of the new $2.9 billion Iridium-NEXT constellation. F9-030 is heading to McGregor for qualification and should arrive at Vandenberg in early September. Launch date: NET September Backup date: TBD Launch time: TBD Stage landing: ASDS Just Read the Instructions ASDS coordinates: 31-17-45 N, 120-30-46 W Initial/spares storage orbit: 667×667 km, 86.4° Operational orbit: 780×780 km, 86.4° Satellite mass: 800 kg Each satellite can also carry a 50kg secondary payload. 58 will carry AIS ship traffic locators. All will carry a space-qualified Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver for global air traffic locating, even over oceans. Unobscured Vision, LittleFroggy and Draggendrop 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted August 23, 2016 Veteran Share Posted August 23, 2016 Just a bit of catch up..... First two Iridium Next satellites shipped to Vandenberg Technicians load the first two Iridium Next satellites into their shipping containers at Orbital ATK’s manufacturing facility in Gilbert, Arizona. Credit: Iridium Quote The first two next-generation Iridium satellites, designed to connect global subscribers with data and voice traffic, arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Tuesday, where they will join eight more message relay craft for launch in September on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This week’s shipment via truck from an Orbital ATK satellite manufacturing plant near Phoenix to Vandenberg on California’s Central Coast will be followed by the arrival of eight more spacecraft at the launch site. Like the first two craft, subsequent satellites will be transported two-and-a-time inside self-stabilizing, climate-controlled containers on a truck to SpaceX’s clean room at Vandenberg, where Orbital ATK engineers will prepare the satellites for launch. Final steps before attachment to the Falcon 9 rocket include fueling the satellites with in-space maneuvering propellants, final functional testing, and connecting the spacecraft with their SpaceX-built dispenser to ride inside the launcher’s payload fairing. Two parts of the first Iridium Next dispenser pictured inside SpaceX’s processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The components arrived at Vandenberg in June. Credit: SpaceX Quote The upcoming launch is a big step for Iridium, which is spending $3 billion on the new satellite program. Iridium’s current satellite network is aging — the old spacecraft launched between 1997 and 2002 — and needs an upgrade. Quote As of July 28, Desch said eight Iridium Next satellites were complete at Orbital ATK’s facility in Arizona, and the final two spacecraft assigned to next month’s liftoff were scheduled to roll off the assembly line within a few days. Iridium booked its seven Falcon 9 launches to use newly-built rockets, but Desch said in June he is open to putting his company’s satellites on a used booster — at the right price — in the future. more at the link... http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/08/03/first-two-iridium-next-satellites-shipped-to-vandenberg/ ------------------- Quote Installing # IridiumNext on dispensers at @ SpaceX before scheduled take-off in September @ Thales_Alenia_S Quote # VandenbergAFB Arrival of the first 2 # IridiumNext More than 8! @ OrbitalATK @ Thales_Alenia_S @ IridiumComm Jim K and Unobscured Vision 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted August 28, 2016 Author Share Posted August 28, 2016 (edited) http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/922257/with-operational-acceptance-complete-western-range-is-ready-for-launch VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Western Range is back in the launch business following an operational acceptance decision held by the Operations Acceptance Board at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Aug. 18, 2016. Unobscured Vision and Draggendrop 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted August 30, 2016 Veteran Share Posted August 30, 2016 Special Delivery! The First Full Payload of Iridium NEXT Satellites Arrives at Launch Site Quote Today marks yet another Iridium NEXT program milestone as we approach the first launch, with all ten Iridium NEXT satellites required for first launch now on site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. At approximately 7:00 A.M. PDT on August 25, the final satellites required for the first payload were delivered, and immediately began pre-launch processing. These satellites represent the first set of the 70 total satellites that will be launched on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, marking the start of a series of seven launches scheduled over the next 18 months. “We are very excited to have reached this stage of the program,” said Matt Desch, chief executive officer of Iridium. “After all these years of preparation, it’s wonderful to have the first batch of satellites complete, on-site and being prepped for the first launch. We want to express thanks to every person involved in the program who has helped get us to this point.” Partnering with Iridium on this initiative as prime contractor is Thales Alenia Space, and their partner Orbital ATK, who are manufacturing, assembling, integrating and testing all Iridium NEXT satellites. The satellites shipped two at a time from the Orbital ATK Satellite Manufacturing Facility in Gilbert, Arizona, in specially designed motion and temperature-controlled shipping containers, on a flatbed truck to the launch site. more at the link... http://blog.iridium.com/2016/08/29/special-delivery-the-first-full-payload-of-iridium-next-satellites-arrives-at-launch-site/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 (edited) There are NSF reports that the F9 core for Iridium NEXT #1 is in the hangar at Vandenberg SLC-4E. Waiting for confirmation and a NET date. Emn1ty and Unobscured Vision 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 Sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted November 11, 2016 Veteran Share Posted November 11, 2016 Second stage arrives at Vandenberg, 2 days ago.... image link Waiting for first stage now, rumor has it that it was removed for checks ? Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Better to be safe, especially with this payload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beittil Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 It was already at Vandy before the Sept 1st mishap occurred indeed, transported back to McGregor for testing and it should be back at Vandy soon. Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I see. Well, we still can't blame SpaceX for being extra-cautious. Draggendrop 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 14, 2016 Author Share Posted November 14, 2016 Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 S1 headed to Vandenberg, imaged outside of Tucson. May be the leadoff hitter. Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 Unobscured Vision, Draggendrop and Jim K 3 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 6, 2016 Author Share Posted December 6, 2016 @pbdes Peter B. de Selding (Space News) Industry officials: looks like SpaceX return to flight w/ 10 IRDM sats from VAFB will slip into early January. Had been set for Dec 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsItPluggedIn Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 I always love the the updates, but then at the same time im always thinking "BUT WHY". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unobscured Vision Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Aww, bummer. Wonder what's happened to cause the slip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 14, 2016 Author Share Posted December 14, 2016 Iridium people are saying January 6-9. Waiting for SpaceX confirmation. Emn1ty 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 17, 2016 Author Share Posted December 17, 2016 Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 25, 2016 Author Share Posted December 25, 2016 Unobscured Vision 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingskippy Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Are those chutes attached to the underside of the fairing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 (edited) I don't see those things on other F9 fairings. Maybe we'll see a fairing recovery attempt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted December 26, 2016 Global Moderator Share Posted December 26, 2016 Doubt it. The image of the fairing, being a render, so who knows. Looks nothing more than a slightly enlarged render of the "bumps" on the AsiaSat picture. I would also think the parachute would be attached within the fairing and not on the outside in those little "bumps" ... unless it is a small drag chute before the larger parachute opened. /shrug Not sure if SpaceX has released anything official with this regards .. or made an announcement they would attempt a fairing recovery on Iridium-NEXT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleFroggy Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 @DocM , those satellites you mentioned at the opening, they appear to be GPS ship tracking satellites? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 26, 2016 Author Share Posted December 26, 2016 (edited) Business, government, military and airborne communications, locating.... If you have a trucking company etc. Iridium can tell you exactly where your shipments are and do communications. This page has a video which starts a string of 14 short videos outlining how pervasive Iridium NEXT is to be. More than 70 satellites, all launched by SpaceX in clusters, with nearly worldwide coverage. https://www.iridium.com/network/iridiumnext Look for this (which doesn't auto-play the sequence,) And soon, SpaceX starts launching its own 4,425 satellite broadband internet in space constellation; low latency broadband even in the jungle, at sea or at the poles. Google is an investor. So is Fidelity Investments. Edited December 26, 2016 by DocM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted December 27, 2016 Author Share Posted December 27, 2016 IridiumIR @IridiumIR 12m12 minutes ago Satellites have been fueled, pressurized & dispenser tiers are being stacked as we move closer to first launch #IridiumNEXT #NEXTevolution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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