Communications
IRIDIUM 179
Global Mobile Satellite Network (Iridium NEXT) · Iridium Communications
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Iridium 179, one of 66 satellites in a mesh network built from the ashes of one of the space industry's most dramatic bankruptcies — the original Iridium constellation cost $5 billion and collapsed within a year of its 1998 launch, before finding new life as the only satellite phone network offering genuine pole-to-pole coverage, relaying calls satellite-to-satellite without ever needing a nearby ground station.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 392–394 mi (632–635 km)
- Inclination
- 86.7°
- One orbit
- 97.2 minutes14.8 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 56730
- Int’l designator
- 2023-068W
- Launched
- 2023
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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