First Iridium Next Launch Sept. 12

The first satellites that will make up Iridium's Next constellation have finished assembly and testing and are being prepared for shipping to the launch site at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, with the first launch to be Sept. 12, Iridium said in a news release Tuesday. Iridium said while the first two Next satellites are being shipped to Vandenberg to be launched by SpaceX, the remaining eight satellites are being completed and will be shipped two at a time to the launch site. The entire 10-satellite constellation is scheduled for launch by late 2017, it said. Assembly, integration and testing were done by Thales Alenia Space and subcontractor Orbital ATK at the latter's manufacturing site in Arizona, Iridium said.