{"id":38307,"date":"2018-09-04T17:26:25","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T09:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/iridium-ceo-reflects-on-past-and-future-use-of-its-satellite-constellation\/"},"modified":"2018-09-04T17:26:25","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T09:26:25","slug":"iridium-ceo-reflects-on-past-and-future-use-of-its-satellite-constellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/iridium-ceo-reflects-on-past-and-future-use-of-its-satellite-constellation\/","title":{"rendered":"Iridium CEO reflects on past and future use of its satellite constellation"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the end of its launch campaign for the Iridium NEXT constellation nears, Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch has reflected upon the past and future uses of the global satellite telecommunications networks in Low Earth Orbit.  Among the greatest successes of the constellation was its aid last year in both the initial and long-term recoveries on Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.<\/p>\n

More so, Mr. Desch elaborated \u2013 from Iridium\u2019s standpoint \u2013 on Elon Musk\u2019s announced plan to use the new Iridium NEXT constellation during Falcon 9 Stage 2 recovery efforts.<\/p>\n

Hurricane recovery in 2017:<\/b><\/p>\n

While we rely on our terrestrial telecommunications network for almost every aspect of our lives, a key \u2013 and not so great \u2013 element of that network is its fragility to natural and human-made disasters.<\/p>\n

This was nowhere more evident last year than in the Caribbean \u2013 which saw widespread and unprecedented devastation as Hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through the region, killing thousands and destroying the land-based communications and powers systems across numerous island nations and commonwealths.<\/p>\n

For first responders, the ability to communicate quickly and reliably with each other is key to an effective and agile response for those needing help in the wake of such disasters as the Caribbean saw last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hurricanes Irma (left) and Jose (right) \u2013 which devastated some of the same islands in the Caribbean just days apart from each other. (Credit: NASA)<\/p>\n

For Hurricane Maria and its deadly impact to Puerto Rico, Iridium\u2019s space-based network became invaluable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that Maria was special,\u201d said Iridium CEO Matt Desch.  \u201cIn some [disasters], when it\u2019s not so bad, cell towers might go down, they may get blown down, but even the ones that stay up run out of fuel in their generators because power\u2019s gone out, and they run out of fuel in, say, 24 hours.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut usually, if it\u2019s not so bad, the cell phone companies are able to roll fuel back in within a day or two, and they start putting towers up, and they get the cell system back up pretty quickly. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we could tell that wasn\u2019t happening in Puerto Rico and some of the other islands.  This was so bad, they couldn\u2019t even get trucks to places. And if they could get them, the infrastructure was damaged so badly.  So we knew that we were maybe the only thing that was operating.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Virgin Islands as seen from space before and after Hurricane Irma in September 2017. (Credit: NASA Earth Observatory)<\/p>\n

The scale of the disaster and destruction of the terrestrial communications network in the Caribbean last year was so widespread and thorough that Iridium saw \u2013 for the first time \u2013 nearly their entire portfolio of devices used in some way during the immediate and longer-term recovery operations.<\/p>\n

This included not just satellite phones (the most common device needed after such events), but also tracking devices and multi-user push-to-talk services that allow all first responders in a given area to communicate instantly with everyone on their team instead of having to rely on satellite phone relays to spread information.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just satellite phones, it was really our Internet of Things services,\u201d noted Mr. Desch. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a system that [doesn\u2019t depend] on ground infrastructure in a specific place has meant \u2013 going back to Katrina and even before \u2013 that in just about every big natural disaster, Iridium is the only thing that typically works from anywhere from the first 24 hours to the first few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Puerto Rico was different.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Iridium satellite phones allow family to communicate for the first time in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. (Credit: Iridium Communications)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could see this tremendous spike [in Puerto Rico and some of the surrounding islands] as first responders, as local administrations, as individuals who were pouring in, as private pilots bringing in supplies all brought in their satellite phones because their cell phones weren\u2019t working and so they were using Iridium network phones exclusively.\u201d<\/p>\n

The normal decline Iridium sees in its product usage 5 days after a disaster did not occur.  Usage continued to climb steadily in the wake of Maria.<\/p>\n

But while the Iridium network and devices were critical in last year\u2019s disasters, people\u2019s lives and the tragedies that affect them are not how Iridium want their systems advertised.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the best.  It\u2019s not the way we want to see our system advertised,\u201d said Mr Desch.<\/p>\n

But there is a reality that \u2013 while companies like Iridium \u2013 don\u2019t want to stake an advertisement campaign for their services on disasters, the types of services they offer are vital in a world that relies heavily on terrestrial networks that can easily be compromised by hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The struggle to rebuild terrestrial power systems in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. (Credit: NOAA)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just these constant reminders around the world that the terrestrial infrastructure is fragile. It doesn\u2019t stay up, and a backup of some sort is very needed,\u201d reminded Mr. Desch.<\/p>\n

Iridium NEXT and Falcon 9 Stage 2 recovery:<\/b><\/p>\n

But past uses of the Iridium constellation are not the only thing on Mr. Desch\u2019s mind now that the final set of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites are nearing their No Earlier Than launch date in November 2018. <\/p>\n

The new Iridium NEXT network will also allow needed advancements in air traffic management and aircraft tracking over remote locations of Earth\u2019s oceans as well as continued support and fostering of new innovations within the spaceflight community as well.<\/p>\n

Presently, Iridium satellite communications technology is on every human Soyuz flight, Rocket Lab currently uses Iridium on its Electron rocket, and an Iridium satellite phone is present on the International Space Station for backup communication needs.<\/p>\n

In fact, Iridium satellite phones on the Soyuz crafts have come in useful in recent years.  In 2007 and 2008, back-to-back Soyuz reentries resulted in off-nominal ballistic reentries that landed their three-person crews hundreds of kilometers away from the intended landing zone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Comparison of a nominal v. ballistic reentry profile for Soyuz. (Credit: NASA)<\/p>\n

In both cases, the Soyuz TMA-10 and TMA-11 crews used an Iridium satellite phone to gain contact with recovery forces following landing.<\/p>\n

But more intriguingly, in May, during a teleconference before the first flight of the Block 5 variant of the Falcon 9, Elon Musk noted that SpaceX would use the Iridium NEXT constellation as a communications platform for Falcon 9 Stage 2 recovery tests and operations.<\/p>\n

But the use of the Iridium network is not, in actuality, a synergy between SpaceX and Iridium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he [talked] about that, I wasn\u2019t surprised,\u201d said Mr. Desch.<\/p>\n

Part of Mr. Desch\u2019s non-surprise stems from the fact that the constellation works at Mach speeds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Iridium CEO Matt Desch (not moving at Mach speed) on an Iridium handset. (Credit: Jay L. DeShetler\u200f for NSF\/L2)<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething operating at Mach speeds going through the atmosphere is like standing still to a satellite going 17,000 mph seven or eight hundred kilometers above you.  So the physics works very well. As long as you can communicate with something above you, if there\u2019s not a giant bit of metal in front of you, it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mr. Desch pointed out that this was not a direct partnership with SpaceX or anything of the kind.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe operate as a wholesale satellite operator.  We supply services and devices, but we really go to market through technology and distribution partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those 417 or so partners are who in turn sell Iridium-based products to various companies \u2013 be they terrestrial for space-based uses.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo [hearing Elon say that] wasn\u2019t a total surprise, but we hadn\u2019t been involved in that specific application of them putting it on there because one of our 417 partners I\u2019m sure worked with them on supplying them service, and they have the full technical ability of integrating the antenna and the application into their system.  Just like a thousand other applications have done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the end of its launch campaign for the Iridium NEXT constellation nears, Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch has reflected upon the past and future uses of the global satellite telecommunications networks in Low Earth Orbit.  Among the greatest successes of the constellation was its aid last year in both the initial and long-term recoveries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38308,"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":[530],"class_list":["post-38307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-iridium"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38307"}],"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=38307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}