Photo: Bill Ingalls · Public domain (US government)
Mission
Communications · LEO
Iridium provides global mobile telecommunications services using a constellation of 66 low earth orbit satellites in a 86.4° inclined orbit. Although 77 satellites were originally envisioned for the system and spawned the name based on the 77th element in the periodic table, the system has been…
What it put in orbit
| Object | Type | Orbit | Globe |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRIDIUM 82 1998-051A | Payload | re-entered 2026-08-08 | |
| IRIDIUM 81 1998-051B | Payload | re-entered 2018-07-17 | |
| IRIDIUM 80 1998-051C | Payload | re-entered 2018-08-12 | |
| IRIDIUM 79 1998-051D | Payload | re-entered 2000-11-29 | |
| IRIDIUM 77 1998-051E | Payload | re-entered 2017-09-22 | |
| DELTA 2 R/B 1998-051F | Rocket body | re-entered 1999-03-16 |
COSPAR ID 1998-051. Orbits from the CelesTrak satellite catalogue (perigee × apogee, inclination).