NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 2017-061K
Coming a month after SpaceX’s last launch, which successfully deployed the US Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane into low Earth Orbit, Monday’s launch was the third of a multi-launch contract between SpaceX and Iridium Communications that will see SpaceX conduct eight missions to deploy seventy-five satellites of Iridium’s second-generation Iridium-NEXT constellation.
Iridium uses a large constellation of spacecraft in low Earth orbit to provide mobile satellite communications worldwide. The first-generation constellation was developed by Iridium SSC, a company financially backed by Motorola.
Launch Date: 2017-10-09
Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 Full Thrust
Launch Site: Vandenberg AFB, United States
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office