Iridium 77

Iridium satellite, constructed entirely from spares and donated by Motorola to the National Air and Space Museum.

Mission type| Communications
Operator| Iridium
COSPAR ID| 1998-051E
SATCAT no.| 25471
Mission duration| 19 years
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type| Iridium
Manufacturer| Motorola
Start of mission
Launch date| September 8, 1998, 21:13:00 (1998-09-08UTC21:13Z) UTC
Rocket| Delta II 7920-10C
Launch site| Vandenberg SLC-2W
Contractor| Iridium
Orbital parameters
Reference system| Geocentric
Regime| Polar Orbit
Eccentricity| 0.00145
Periapsis altitude| 520 km
Apoapsis altitude| 540 km
Inclination| 86°
Period| 95 minutes
Epoch| 1998-09-08

Iridium 77 was a communications Satellite which was part of a satellite constellation known as Iridium, named after the 77th chemical element of the periodic table, iridium. It was owned and funded by Iridium, a communications company.

## Contents

* 1 Network
* 2 Overview
* 2.1 Launch
* 2.2 Features
* 3 See also
* 4 References

## Network

Iridium 77 is a part of a space-based communications system called Iridium. Conceived, designed, and built by Motorola, the Iridium system provides wireless, mobile communications through a network of 66 satellites in polar, low-Earth orbits. Inaugurated in November 1998, under the auspices of Iridium LLC, this complex space system allowed callers using hand-held mobile phones and pagers to communicate anywhere in the world—a first in the history of telephony.

## Overview

### Launch

It was launched by Delta II 7920 from Vandenberg Air Force Base on 8 September 1998 at 21:13:00 UTC[1] along with four other satellites, all of which were Iridium satellites.

### Features

Iridium 77 is 3-axis stabilized, with a hydrazine propulsion system. It has 2 solar panels with 1-axis articulation. The system employs L-Band using FDMA/TDMA to provide voice at 4.8 kbit/s and data at 2.4 kbit/s with 16 dB margin. The satellite has 48 spot beams for Earth coverage and uses Ka-Band for crosslinks and ground commanding.[2]

## See also

* 1998 in spaceflight
* Iridium Communications
* Iridium satellite constellation

## References

1. ↑ "Iridium 77". NASA. 16 August 2013. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1998-051E.
2. ↑ "Iridium 77". NASA. 16 August 2013. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1998-051E.

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