Main Engine Cut OffSpaceX to Launch Iridium Next Satellites from Vandenberg on September 19
Iridium now expects the launch of the first 10 Iridium Next satellites to occur on Sept. 19 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.
After a few months of work on SLC-4E at Vandenberg, SpaceX looks ready to pick up flights from there this fall. I haven’t heard too much lately about their work on the landing pads out west, but we should be seeing some of that soon, too.
A week’s slip in a launch is not normally an issue for a satellite fleet operator. But for Iridium, it means an automatic delay in the second SpaceX Iridium launch, which for insurance and debt-covenant reasons cannot occur until three months following the first launch. That means a second launch no earlier than late December.
After that, the five remaining SpaceX launches should occur at 60-day intervals, Desch said.
If SpaceX can close out 2016 with a good streak of launches, I expect them to be launching pretty consistently in 2017 from both coasts—maybe even hitting their goal of once every 2-3 weeks.