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LEOCommunicationsOperational

Iridium NEXT

Iridium Communications · United States

Median orbit
776 km · 86.4°
Active
80
Inactive
0
Decayed
70
On orbit
105
Total launched
175
Launches
31
Launched 30 d
0
Launched 365 d
0
First launch
05 May 1997
Last launch
20 May 2023
Activity scorederived
0.0
launch cadence index
Snapshot
11 Sept 2026 22:57 UTC

Deployment

Deployment timeline

Cumulative satellites launched

Cumulative satellites launched by month0501001502001997199719981999201720192023

Launched per month

Satellites launched per month0246810121997-051997-111998-051999-062017-102019-012023-05

Orbits

Orbital shells

Perigee altitude · satellites per 25 km

Perigee altitude histogram0204060400 km500 km600 km700 km800 km

Inclination · satellites per 5°

Inclination histogram05010086°86.5°87°87.5°88°

Largest shells (perigee × inclination)

PerigeeInclinationSatellites
780 km86.00°67
750 km86.00°6
650 km87.00°3

Shells bucket current elements to 20 km × 1°. Orbit classes are derived.

Launches

Launch history · 31 launches

LaunchDateSiteSatellitesActive
2023-06820 May 2023Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California55
2019-00211 Jan 2019Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California1010
2018-06125 Jul 2018Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California1010
2018-04722 May 2018Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California55
2018-03030 Mar 2018Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California1010
2017-08323 Dec 2017Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California1010
2017-06109 Oct 2017Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California1010
2017-03925 Jun 2017Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California1010
2017-00314 Jan 2017Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California1010
2002-03120 Jun 2002Plesetsk Cosmodrome20
2002-00511 Feb 2002Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1999-03211 Jun 1999Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center20
1998-07419 Dec 1998Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center20
1998-06606 Nov 1998Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1998-05108 Sept 1998Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1998-04819 Aug 1998Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center20
1998-03217 May 1998Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1998-02602 May 1998Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center20
1998-02107 Apr 1998Baikonur Cosmodrome (Tyuratam)70
1998-01930 Mar 1998Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1998-01825 Mar 1998Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center20
1998-01018 Feb 1998Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1997-08220 Dec 1997Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1997-07708 Dec 1997Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center20
1997-06909 Nov 1997Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1997-05627 Sept 1997Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1997-05114 Sept 1997Baikonur Cosmodrome (Tyuratam)70
1997-04321 Aug 1997Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1997-03409 Jul 1997Vandenberg Space Force Base (Western Range), California50
1997-03018 Jun 1997Baikonur Cosmodrome (Tyuratam)70

Showing the 30 most recent launches.

Fleet

Recent satellites

All satellites in this constellation →
SatelliteNORADStatusLaunchedPerigeeApogeeIncl.
IRIDIUM 17956730Active20 May 2023628 km631 km86.68°
IRIDIUM 17856729Active20 May 2023628 km631 km86.66°
IRIDIUM 17456728Active20 May 2023652 km656 km86.61°
IRIDIUM 17756727Active20 May 2023637 km640 km86.19°
IRIDIUM 18156726Active20 May 2023746 km749 km86.45°
IRIDIUM 16743931Active11 Jan 2019776 km779 km86.40°
IRIDIUM 17043930Active11 Jan 2019652 km656 km86.61°
IRIDIUM 17143929Active11 Jan 2019776 km779 km86.40°
IRIDIUM 17543928Active11 Jan 2019745 km748 km86.45°
IRIDIUM 17243927Active11 Jan 2019776 km779 km86.40°
IRIDIUM 16943926Active11 Jan 2019761 km765 km86.43°
IRIDIUM 17343925Active11 Jan 2019776 km779 km86.40°

Reentries

Decays by month

70 decays recorded · per month

Decayed satellites per month02462000-112017-092018-042018-102019-052026-032026-08

Timeline

Events

All events →

No events recorded for this entity yet.