The constellation consists of 66 active satellites in orbit required for global coverage, and additional spare satellites to serve in case of failure.[3] Satellites are in low Earth orbit at a height of approximately 485 mi (781 km) and inclination of 86.4°. Orbital velocity of the satellites is approximately 17,000 mph (27,000 km/h). Satellites communicate with neighboring satellites via Ka band inter-satellite links. Each satellite can have four inter-satellite links: one each to neighbors fore and aft in the same orbital plane, and one each to satellites in neighboring planes to either side. The satellites orbit from pole to same pole with an orbital period of roughly 100 minutes.
This design means that there is excellent satellite visibility and service coverage especially at the North and South poles. The over-the-pole orbital design produces "seams" where satellites in counter-rotating planes next to one another are traveling in opposite directions. Cross-seam inter-satellite link hand-offs would have to happen very rapidly and cope with large Doppler shifts; therefore, Iridium supports inter-satellite links only between satellites orbiting in the same direction. The constellation of 66 active satellites has six orbital planes spaced 30 degrees apart, with 11 satellites in each plane (not counting spares)
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yes the Q confirmed the missing I was iridium in dec 23 possts and also posted about space x launches, I believe it relates to the captured satellite conference call to the tarmac meeting
Then what is the connection of Iridium to RBG?
The Iridium communications service was launched on November 1, 1998 by what was then Iridium SSC. The first Iridium call was made by Vice President of the United States Al Gore to his wife Tipper Gore.
The founding company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy nine months later, on August 13, 1999.
In August of 2000, Motorola announced that the Iridium satellites would have to be de-orbited; however, they remained in orbit and operational. In December of 2000 the US government stepped in to save Iridium by providing $72 million in exchange for a two year contract and approving the fire-sale of the company from US Bankruptcy court for $25 million, in March of 2001. This erased over $4 billion in debt.
Iridium service was restarted in 2001 by the newly founded Iridium Satellite LLC, which was owned by a group of private investors. Although the satellites and other assets and technology behind Iridium were estimated to have cost around US$6 billion, the investors bought the firm for about US$35 million.
Very convenient deal, eh?
The U.S. Department of Defense, through its own dedicated gateway, relies on Iridium for global communications capabilities.