RobDonRe@aol.com wrote: > I recently watched a taped documentary in which it was > mentioned that there were some 70 iridium satellites in > orbit, and that 13 had failed. The date of > this documentary is in question. 70 in orbit and 13 failures don't really tie up! 13 failures would seem to point to late 1999 or 2000, by which time all 88 satellites were in orbit. > Will someone please answer the following for me. I'll have a go! > 1: How many Iridium satellites are in orbit now? 85 (88 launched, of which 3 have so far decayed), [plus 2 "dummies"]. > 2: Are they numbered in sequence? Only approximately! The designations 1, 78, 87 and 88 were not used, while the designations 11, 14, 20 and 21 have been used twice. > 3: How many are still operational at this time? 73 (66 plus 7 spares, though the status of one of these spares (Iridium 51) is somewhat doubtful) See my Iridium Constellation Status page at http://rodsladen.cjb.net/iridium.htm -- Rod Sladen, Beeston, Nottinghamshire, UK 52.9230N, 1.2190W ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www2.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jun 20 2001 - 16:50:15 PDT