Iridium Seeks OK for Next-Gen Earth Stations Tied to Next Constellation

With its next-generation Next constellation starting to go into orbit, Iridium wants to modify its blanket earth station license to accommodate next-gen earth stations designed to work with it. In an International Bureau filing Thursday, the company said the first generation of the next-gen earth stations come in forms already associated with the existing earth station license, but the second generation is a "one size fits all" terminal, Iridium Certus, that will be used in land, sea and air applications in different operating modes.