Iridium Adds 8th Next Launch With SpaceX

Iridium contracted with SpaceX for an eighth Falcon 9 launch of five of its Next constellation satellites, with the launch to happen by early 2018, Iridium said in a news release Tuesday. The Next satellites will rideshare with two satellites of the NASA/GFZ Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On mission, it said: That's a cost-saving means of getting some of the ground spare satellites of its Next constellation in orbit and allows the company to complete the operational constellation quicker than it would have with seven launches. Iridium said it already contracted with SpaceX for seven dedicated Next launches involving 70 Iridium satellites in low-earth orbit over the next 13 months.