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Iridium satellite constellation

Aerospace Engineering

The Iridium satellite constellation provides L-band voice and data coverage to satellite phones, satellite messenger devices and integrated transceivers. It is owned and operated by Iridium Communications, which also sells equipment and access to its services. The constellation was conceived by Bary Bertiger, Raymond J. Leopold and Ken Peterson in late 1987 and developed by Motorola under a fixed-price contract from July 1993 to November 1998, when the system became operational and commercially available. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year
1998 1
Significance
The nearly polar orbit and communication between satellites via Ka band inter-satellite links provide global service availability, regardless of the position of ground stations and gateways. 1
Classification
Status
Operational 1
Sources
1. Iridium satellite constellation (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section, operational-date sentence
    developed by Motorola on a fixed-price contract from July 29, 1993, to November 1, 1998, when the system became operational and commercially available.
  • Overview section, polar-orbit sentence
    The nearly polar orbit and communication between satellites via Ka band inter-satellite links provide global service availability (including both poles, oceans and airways), regardless of the position of ground stations and gateways.
  • status sentence
    It is owned and operated by Iridium Communications, which also sells equipment and access to its services.
  • In Group: Satellite Communication Constellations, Introduction
    The Iridium satellite constellation provides L band voice and data information coverage to satellite phones, satellite messenger communication devices and integrated transceivers.
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