Iridium NEXT is taking flight
Iridium is delivering on its uncompromising vision for the future of global communications: Iridium NEXT.
Iridium’s groundbreaking second-generation satellite constellation will enable innovations today and those yet to be imagined, while providing continued high performance and reliability for all existing Iridium® solutions – far into the future.
Iridium NEXT is driving innovation, creating opportunities and changing the way people and organizations communicate – everywhere on the planet.
Enabling a future of possibilities
Iridium NEXT will dramatically enhance Iridium's ability to meet the growing demand for global mobile communications on land, at sea and in the skies. Iridium enables partners to create innovative products and solutions that haven’t even been conceived of yet, made possible through the flexibility of Iridium’s network. Iridium NEXT will:
Support more bandwidth and higher speeds for new products
Enable partner solutions on a scale not yet imagined
Provide service continuity and backwards compatibility
Support Aireon’s aircraft tracking service as well as other Hosted Payload missions
Be the World’s First Turnkey Platform for Innovative New Capabilities by supporting new Iridium PRIME℠ satellites
A uniquely sophisticated constellation
Like Iridium’s current satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT will deploy a cross-linked Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) architecture, providing coverage over 100 percent of the earth’s surface, including across oceans, airways and polar regions.
A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY
Driving an evolution in global communications
Broadband: Iridium will be uniquely positioned to offer a diverse portfolio of faster and more affordable global broadband services and devices.
IoT/M2M: Higher speeds and bandwidth will unlock new possibilities in asset tracking, fleet management and other intelligent data applications.
Land Mobile: Iridium® handheld device users will benefit from an even more powerful and reliable enhanced personal communications network.
HOSTED PAYLOADS
The power to transform business with truly revolutionary partnerships
As a founding member of the Hosted Payload Alliance (HPA) and a recognized industry leader, Iridium continues to be a leader and visionary with the innovative Iridium NEXT and Iridium PRIME℠ payload programs.
Iridium secured one of the industry’s largest deals to date for the primary hosted payload space on Iridium NEXT with Aireon℠. The partnership with leading ANSPs and investors from around the world will revolutionize global air traffic surveillance by providing global visibility of all equipped aircraft.
Iridium also secured an auxiliary payload agreement with Harris, which will use the remaining space to address various customer applications with the Harris AppSTAR™ reconfigurable payload platform.
The first turnkey payloads solution
Designed to reduce the complexity and costs of access to space-based services, Iridium PRIME offers customers a unique opportunity to place payloads on dedicated additional satellites that can fly within the Iridium NEXT constellation.
FROM NOW TO IRIDIUM NEXT
Launching a New Era in Space
Working in close collaboration with prime contractor Thales Alenia Space, and launch provider SpaceX, Iridium is on track to fully replace its current satellite constellation and continues to achieve key milestones in its comprehensive plan for funding, building and launching Iridium NEXT in mid 2018.
A truly global collaborative effort
All around the world, the brightest aerospace and telecommunications engineers are working alongside the best technicians and project managers to make the bold vision that is Iridium NEXT a reality.