How low can you go? SpaceX’s bid to serve as the Iridium Next launch agent was cheaper than the Indians and the Chinese. How low is it? Shockingly low. “That $492 million figure would launch all 72 satellites in our constellation,” said Matt Desch, Iridium’s CEO. So will SpaceX make up in volume what they’re [...]
Archive for the ‘Iridium Next’ Category
SpaceX Shocks The House With Iridium Win
Posted: June 18, 2010 in CCAFS, China, Desch, Elon Musk, Falcon 9, India, Iridium Next, Matt Desch, Musk, Space Launch, Space Launch, SpaceX, Titan, VandenbergTags: China
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SpaceX and Iridium Agree to $492 Million Launch Services Deal
Posted: June 16, 2010 in Commercial Space, Falcon 9, Iridium, Iridium Next, SpaceX, VandenbergTags: Commercial Space
SpaceX will be the major launch agency for Iridium next. Let’s see–here’s my ROM. As many as nine or ten Vandenberg launches with a massive amount of weight to orbit margin assuming a stack of five or six satellites. Perhaps other customers will emerge to use up some of that margin, but that adds complexity regarding [...]
Lockheed Loses ‘Iridium Next’ Satellite Build To Thales Team
Posted: June 2, 2010 in International Space, Iridium, Iridium Next, Lockheed, Lockheed Martin, Loral, ThalesThe essential details of the WSJ article: $2.1 billion to build the 72 satellites including nine spares $800 million to launch (and to do some undefined ground upgrades) Launches envisioned as 2015 to 2017 $1.8 billion in loan guarantees from ‘French export-credit agency’ Loral considered the margins so thin that they earlier dropped out of [...]
