A few months late, Iridium has just completed its Iridium NEXT satellite launch campaign (¹).
The Iridium NEXT constellation is the only communication network with global pole-to-pole coverage. It is composed of six planes in polar orbit, each including 11 satellites for a total of 66 Operational, creating an interconnected mesh network around the globe. The Iridium NEXT satellites was designed by Thales Alenia Space, System prime contractor, and are in the process of being integrated by Thales's subcontractor, Northrop Grumman. Since the start of the launches, The constellation undergoes a one-to-one replacement, A new satellite for an old one, achieved through a maneuver called "slot swap". 9 other satellites orbit as a spare for out of commission satellites, and six more will be stored on land as a spare.
Thanks to this new constellation, New services will be set up. These services, Include Iridium Certus for maritime, which will provide the fastest broadband connectivity specialized and the only one in the world, enabling highly mobile Internet access using smaller, more cost-effective terminals, and ADS-B aircraft surveillance system (²) Developed by Aireon Providing real-time visibility of aircraft for air traffic controllers and airlines anywhere in the world for the first time.
All that remains is to wait for the new services dedicated to pleasure boating, and possible new devices, which may take a few more months.
[Update 28 February 2019] Iridium NEXT is fully operational format. Since the 20 February. Currently, only Certus broadband services 200 and 700 are marketed by different operators (Thales, Sailor, Intellian, Thrane, …). Certus low-speed services 20 and 100 should appear soon.
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(¹) Iridium NEXT maintains its schedule
(²) ADS-B, aviator's AIS
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