{"id":14247,"date":"2017-10-20T18:30:25","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T10:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/iridium-swaps-two-new-falcon-9-rockets-for-flight-proven-boosters\/"},"modified":"2017-10-20T18:30:25","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T10:30:25","slug":"iridium-swaps-two-new-falcon-9-rockets-for-flight-proven-boosters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/iridium-swaps-two-new-falcon-9-rockets-for-flight-proven-boosters\/","title":{"rendered":"Iridium swaps two new Falcon 9 rockets for \u201cflight-proven\u201d boosters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A Falcon 9 first stage lands on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean in June following a liftoff with Iridium satellites. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Citing schedule concerns over price benefits, Iridium announced Thursday it will launch its next 20 satellites on a pair of previously-flown Falcon 9 boosters from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, beginning with a Dec. 22 mission.<\/p>\n

Iridium previously planned to launch all its satellites on newly-manufactured rockets under a $492 million contract with SpaceX signed in 2010, but the company kept open the option to switch to previously-flown boosters if the change met certain schedule, risk and cost metrics.<\/p>\n

Matt Desch, Iridium\u2019s CEO, told Spaceflight Now in an interview Thursday that the agreement will help ensure the deployment of the company\u2019s next-generation voice and data relay network, comprising up to 81 satellites, remains on schedule for completion by mid-2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of schedule, I certainly felt comfortable that it was going to keep or improve the overall schedule,\u201d Desch said. \u201cWe have a very aggressive plan to have five more launches over the next eight months, and I realize that working with previously-flown, flight-proven boosters was going to help SpaceX and ourselves keep on track to that launch schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iridium said the fourth flight of the company\u2019s eight-launch campaign with SpaceX is set for no earlier than Dec. 22 from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, a facility on the Pacific coast northwest of Los Angeles. Launch time is set for 5:26 p.m. PST (8:26 p.m. EST; 0126 GMT on Dec. 23).<\/p>\n

SpaceX will launch 10 more satellites for the Iridium Next constellation into orbit 388 miles (625 kilometers) above Earth, moving the fleet to the halfway point in deployments.<\/p>\n

Iridium has contracted with Thales Alenia Space and Orbital ATK to build 81 satellites to replace the company\u2019s aging spacecraft, providing uninterrupted global messaging and telephone service, and introducing new higher-bandwidth applications, such as video.<\/p>\n

Seventy-five of the satellites are booked for launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets \u2014 one of the missions will only carry five Iridium payloads in a shared ride with two U.S.-German research satellites \u2014 and thirty of the Iridium Next platforms are already in orbit from three successful Falcon 9 flights in January, June and on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

Iridium hoped to have the Iridium Next constellation fully operational by the end of 2017, but delays in satellite production, followed by a four-month interruption in SpaceX\u2019s launch manifest last year after a rocket failure, pushed back the schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the new services we have available with the Next satellites, we really want to take advantage of those and ensure that we complete the network in mid-2018 as planned,\u201d Desch said, adding that Iridium\u2019s agreement was not aimed at moving forward launch dates for the next two missions, but \u201cabout improving my whole launch cadence.\u201d<\/p>\n

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File photo of 10 Iridium Next satellites before encapsulation inside the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s payload fairing. Each tier of the two-part dispenser holds five satellites. Credit: Iridium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a statement announcing the decision, Iridium said it \u201cconducted extensive due diligence work and is fully confident in the SpaceX booster refurbishment program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Desch told Spaceflight Now that three successful re-flights of Falcon 9 first stage boosters this year gave Iridium, and the insurance community, confidence in the rocket\u2019s ability to fly more than once.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur technical teams really dug into it, it was clear that SpaceX has been designing for reusability all along,\u201d Desch said. \u201cThey have a lot of engineering data and work, that by the time we got through all that due diligence, we felt that the risks were no higher, and maybe lower, in using a flight-proven booster.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing there is we went out to our insurance carriers, and they agreed,\u201d he said. \u201cThey said there would be no changes to our premium as a result of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX has flown three reused first stages on Falcon 9 flights this year, beginning March 30 with the SES 10 communications satellite. Another previously-flown booster launched the BulgariaSat 1 broadcast satellite toward orbit June 23, and another communications payload for SES and EchoStar rode a reused first stage to space Oct. 11.<\/p>\n

Desch said Iridium has not confirmed which boosters in SpaceX\u2019s inventory of recovered rockets will fly Dec. 22, or on the following Iridium Next mission in the first quarter of 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a cost reduction,\u201d Desch said. \u201cBut I think we got the fairly standard cost reduction they\u2019re offering, and that was acceptable to me because the value was (the same) or better, overall.\u201d<\/p>\n

He declined to identify the exact discount SpaceX offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless, (cost) was my lowest driver,\u201d Desch said. \u201cThat, to me, meant nothing if the other two weren\u2019t met.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the long run, SpaceX aims for more significant cost reductions as the company cuts the time it needs to recover and refurbish a Falcon 9 first stage for a re-flight. The second stage remains expendable.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody who says they need a significant cost reduction, or is starting to throw out numbers, I believe that means that they don\u2019t believe that the risk profile is the same,\u201d Desch said. \u201cThe value is getting your payload successfully into the orbit that you need, and to me, I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s a requirement to get a discount at all for that. I think, long-term, there isn\u2019t going to be a discount for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rolling out to Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But schedule concerns, and potentially a lower risk profile, could draw customers to SpaceX\u2019s stable of reused rockets, even without a major cost reduction from SpaceX\u2019s current prices, which undercut competitors, Desch said, echoing several other satellite industry officials who have sought or booked launches on previously-flown Falcon 9 boosters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say it\u2019s been tested,\u201d he said. \u201cOur analysis believes it is proven technology, and what reduction we\u2019re getting is because that\u2019s what\u2019s being offered right now. I\u2019m really getting all the value I contracted for before. I don\u2019t get to keep the rocket after it\u2019s over. I get no memento from having paid for it, so I\u2019m just paying for the service, and as long as I get my service, I\u2019m pretty happy with what the price should be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had a pretty good deal to begin with, and maybe some people are still thinking about it compared to other rockets they use, but I believe that the Falcon 9 is a good value right now, and a flight-proven (vehicle) maybe is a little bit better, but (cost) is not really what drives us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The $492 million contract signed by SpaceX and Iridium in 2010 covered seven launches, plus the design and construction of special dispensers to deploy the satellites once in orbit. Iridium since added another launch, a rideshare flight with five Iridium payloads and two U.S.-German GRACE-Follow On gravity measurement satellites.<\/p>\n

Desch said Iridium will consider flying on reused boosters on missions next year, but likely not the rideshare mission with the GRACE satellites, which is expected to be the sixth flight in Iridium\u2019s launch sequence in the spring of 2018, using SpaceX\u2019s new Block 5 vehicle, an upgraded Falcon 9 configuration.<\/p>\n

The current version of the Falcon 9 rocket must land its first stage on SpaceX\u2019s ocean-going drone ships after launching with heavy payloads \u2014 such as 10 Iridium satellites in one go \u2014 or missions bound for high-altitude orbits. Among other benefits, the Block 5 will allow more Falcon 9 boosters to return to land on a concrete pad near launch sites in Florida and California.<\/p>\n

SpaceX has not conducted a rocket landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base following a West Coast launch, but is expected to debut that capability early next year after the completion of environmental reviews. Unlike SpaceX\u2019s landing target at Cape Canaveral, which is several miles from Falcon 9 launch pads, the company\u2019s landing site at Vandenberg is adjacent to the liftoff point at a former Titan 2 launch pad.<\/p>\n

Desch said the first Falcon 9 landing at the California base is not expected to be on an Iridium flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI checked around and found out that it is not us, and SpaceX has never talked to us about that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SpaceX has several launches from Vandenberg for customers other than Iridium next year, beginning with a mission targeted for liftoff no earlier than Jan. 30 with the Spanish Paz Earth observation satellite.<\/p>\n

The next two Falcon 9 missions from Florida\u2019s Space Coast, set for Oct. 30 and mid-November, will utilize factory-fresh boosters. A NASA spokesperson told Spaceflight Now last week he could not confirm if the  booster for SpaceX\u2019s next space station supply launch in early December will be new or previously-flown.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Falcon 9 first stage lands on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean in June following a liftoff with Iridium satellites. Credit: SpaceX Citing schedule concerns over price benefits, Iridium announced Thursday it will launch its next 20 satellites on a pair of previously-flown Falcon 9 boosters from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,479,530,2193,3089,3003,2899,311],"class_list":["post-14247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-falcon-9","tag-iridium","tag-iridium-next","tag-iridium-next-mission-4","tag-iridium-next-mission-5","tag-orbital-atk","tag-reusability"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}