First Iridium NEXT
Satellites Declared
Ready for Shipment and
Launch Date Announced
June 15, 2016
Iridium Communications
Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM)
announced that its first
Iridium NEXT satellites
have completed assembly
and testing, and are now
prepared for shipment to
the launch site at
Vandenberg Air Force
Base in California. The
shipment of these
satellites represents a
significant milestone
toward the first launch
of the Iridium NEXT
constellation, which the
company officially
announced as targeted
for September 12, 2016.
“This is a really
exciting milestone.
After more than seven
years of effort, the
first of our
next-generation
satellites are finally
ready for space,” said
Matt Desch, chief
executive officer,
Iridium. “It has been
fantastic to witness our
satellites evolve from
manufacturing designs to
fully functioning
vehicles, and we
congratulate everyone
involved in making this
goal possible. This
program replaces the
largest commercial
satellite constellation
in space with
state-of-the-art
technology and new
capabilities, allowing
Iridium to support the
connectivity needs of
today, as well as those
yet to be imagined.”
Assembly, integration
and testing of the
satellites are performed
by Thales Alenia Space
and their subcontractor,
Orbital ATK, at the
Orbital ATK
manufacturing facility
in Gilbert, Ariz. The
production process
incorporates a unique,
assembly line system
consisting of 18
different work stations
ranging from panel
integration and payload
testing to full
satellite integration,
solar array
installations and
alignment checks. Each
satellite features more
than 5,000 individual
parts assembled,
culminating in one
hundred thousand hours
of workmanship by
hundreds of engineers. A
total of 81 satellites
are scheduled to roll
off of this assembly
line, with 66 serving as
the operational
satellites to replace
the existing Iridium®
network, and the
remainder serving as
ground and on-orbit
spares.
Following assembly and
integration, the first
satellites underwent a
series of tests to
ensure the vehicles met
design specifications,
as well as production
tests to verify the
quality of the
manufacturing process.
Some of those tests
included vibration and
acoustic testing, which
simulated the movement
and sound pressures
experienced during the
launch, while thermal
vacuum tests created the
temperature extremes the
satellites will face
while in orbit. These
tests allowed the
engineers to confirm
that the satellites
would withstand the
launch and operate
successfully when
deployed.
“The scale and
complexity of the
Iridium NEXT
constellation is
unprecedented in the
satellite community
outside of Iridium,
requiring that the
engineers balance
delivering high-quality
satellites designed for
high-rate manufacturing,
with a unique fully
processed payload while
maintaining an efficient
schedule,” said Bertrand
Maureau, executive vice
president of
telecommunication at
Thales Alenia Space.
“We’re thrilled to ship
the first batch of
Iridium NEXT satellites,
as they represent the
culmination of the team
consortium work
including worldwide
partners and all the
main Thales Alenia Space
entities”.
Along with measuring the
quality of the satellite
production, the testing
phases helped validate
that the assembly line
is fully qualified to
move to high rate
production. During the
last three months, the
number of assembly,
integration and testing
engineers working on
Iridium NEXT has doubled
at Orbital ATK’s
facility. With the vast
resources and aerospace
engineering talent in
the Phoenix area, the
team plans on adding
another 30 engineers as
production increases to
complete more than five
satellites per month.
“The Iridium NEXT
production process
features a unique
assembly-line approach
inspired by the
production of Iridium’s
initial constellation
which launched over 19
years ago,” said Frank
Culbertson, president of
Orbital ATK Space
Systems Group. “While
certain stations require
more hours of efforts
than others, each
represents a critical
step toward delivering a
fully functioning
Iridium NEXT satellite.
Now that we have
standardized the entire
process, we are excited
to ramp up the
production rate to meet
Iridium’s needs and
support the successful
completion of a truly
transformative program.”
The first two completed
Iridium NEXT satellites
are being shipped to
Vandenberg Air Force
Base for processing by
Iridium’s launch
partner, SpaceX. As the
remaining eight
first-launch satellites
are completed, they will
also be shipped two at a
time to the launch site.
While the satellites
will be ready by August,
the earliest launch date
available to Iridium
from SpaceX and
Vandenberg Air Force
Base is September 12th.
During processing,
Orbital ATK is
responsible for fueling
the satellites, while
also performing software
validation and testing
to ensure the satellites
integrate properly with
the SpaceX Falcon 9
rockets. The Iridium
NEXT satellites
represent SpaceX’s
heaviest payload to
date.
All
