LEESBURG, Va. — The much-anticipated return to space for Elon Musk鈥檚 SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be the easy part for a Fairfax County-based satellite company that is hitching a ride into orbit.
McLean-based Iridium Communications will attempt an unprecedented swap of 10 next-generation mobile voice and data satellites while orbiting approximately 483 miles above the earth.
鈥淭he slot swap is like changing out a car tire while moving 17,000 miles an hour,鈥� said Julian Horvath, operations manager for the Iridium NEXT satellite program.
The Iridium payload, worth about $284 million, is the heaviest payload SpaceX has carried into space.
草莓传媒 was given an exclusive tour of Iridium鈥檚 Satellite Network Operations Center, in Leesburg, where teams of crews are engaged in what the company is calling 鈥渁 dress rehearsal鈥� for Sunday鈥檚 SpaceX launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California.
SpaceX missions have been grounded since the explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket on a launchpad in Cape Canaveral, on Sept. 1, 2016.
If all goes well with the launch, Iridium will deploy the first 10 of its next-generation satellites for several weeks of testing before replacing 10 of its current aging satellites.
鈥淥ur original constellation of satellites were only designed for a聽seven- to eight-year life span, and we鈥檙e going on 19 years,鈥� said Horvath.
A separate control room in the secure facility was built for the testing that will be done聽at a lower orbit before the new satellites are swapped in.
鈥淲hen they鈥檙e deployed from the launch vehicle, our teams will take over and check them out,鈥� said Horvath. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a 30-, 40-day process for the first satellite; then we鈥檒l get 鈥榚m up and swap it with the old satellites.鈥�
Iridium will use subsequent SpaceX launches to eventually replace all 66 of its mission satellites this year.
鈥淎nd we鈥檒l launch some spares, too,鈥� said Horvath.
During normal operations, Iridium has 66 satellites in orbit 鈥� more than any other communications company.
Horvath said Iridium鈥檚 satellites function in a lower orbit than other communication satellites, 鈥渟o in order to cover the entire globe, we need more satellites.鈥�
鈥淲e have six rings of 11 satellites, and they鈥檙e in polar orbit, which means they circle the earth north to south, and that gives us full global service,” he said.
Each of the new satellites weighs about a ton and is the size of a Mini Cooper automobile, said Horvath.
Getting the satellites up to speed will take some time. After 19 years in service, many functions of the first-generation Iridium satellites are automated.
鈥淓very day or couple of days, you have to tell the satellite where it is, and where to point, and route traffic,鈥� said Horvath.
With the new satellites, during the testing period, most of the operations will be controlled manually, since 鈥渋t鈥檚 new, so you鈥檙e not as confident of the automation,鈥� he said.
鈥淵ou can do any amount of testing on the ground, but as soon as you get on orbit, things are a little different,鈥� Horvath said.
After about a month of testing, Iridium will attempt the swap; Horvath describes it as 鈥渁n intricate dance.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檇 bring one satellite up [to the desired orbit], rendezvous it and get it pretty close to the old satellite, and then we swap which antenna is functioning,鈥� said Horvath. 鈥淗opefully it looks seamless to our users.鈥�
Since the swap of all 66 satellites will be gradual, Horvath believes customers won鈥檛 notice the exchange.
鈥淚f something鈥檚 not working right with the new satellite, and we need to do more testing or calibration, we can very quickly switch back to the old satellite,鈥� he said.
Horvath said the new satellites will meet all of the current services, but will allow Iridium鈥檚 network to evolve to meet the future needs of customers.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l allow us the capability to upload new software, and provide new services and capabilities that we haven鈥檛 even thought of yet.鈥�
