超级军网美国一通信卫星与俄罗斯一报废卫星相撞
来源：百度文库 编辑：超级军网 时间：2024/04/28 11:46:29
环球时报2月11日报道 据美联社报道，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)2月11日称，美国一颗通信卫星10日与一颗俄罗斯已报废的卫星在太空中相撞。此次太空相撞事故产生了大量太空垃圾，可能会对国际空间站造成威胁。
美国国家航空航天局(NASA)表示，这是人类历史上首次卫星相撞事故，地点位于西伯利亚上空500英里(约805公里)。发生相撞的分别是美国1997年发射的一颗铱星，以及俄罗斯1993年发射的一颗卫星，据信这颗卫星目前已经不再工作。位于休斯顿的约翰逊太空中心研究轨道残骸的专家马克·马特尼说，俄罗斯卫星失去了控制。马特尼说，“我们知道这种事情最终会发生。”
据报道，铱星重1235磅(约560公斤)，俄罗斯卫星重达一吨，因此预计这次相撞将产生大量太空垃圾，但目前还不清楚详情。NASA称，还需要几周时间来判断此次事故的程度。
NASA表示，由于国际空间站的轨道在相撞事故地点下方270英里(434公里)，因此这次事故对空间站以及其中3名宇航员的威胁较低。对将于2月22日发射的“发现号”航天飞机也应该不会造成威胁，但美国会对发射时间进行重新评估。
环球时报2月11日报道 据美联社报道，美国国家航空航天局(NASA)2月11日称，美国一颗通信卫星10日与一颗俄罗斯已报废的卫星在太空中相撞。此次太空相撞事故产生了大量太空垃圾，可能会对国际空间站造成威胁。
美国国家航空航天局(NASA)表示，这是人类历史上首次卫星相撞事故，地点位于西伯利亚上空500英里(约805公里)。发生相撞的分别是美国1997年发射的一颗铱星，以及俄罗斯1993年发射的一颗卫星，据信这颗卫星目前已经不再工作。位于休斯顿的约翰逊太空中心研究轨道残骸的专家马克·马特尼说，俄罗斯卫星失去了控制。马特尼说，“我们知道这种事情最终会发生。”
据报道，铱星重1235磅(约560公斤)，俄罗斯卫星重达一吨，因此预计这次相撞将产生大量太空垃圾，但目前还不清楚详情。NASA称，还需要几周时间来判断此次事故的程度。
NASA表示，由于国际空间站的轨道在相撞事故地点下方270英里(434公里)，因此这次事故对空间站以及其中3名宇航员的威胁较低。对将于2月22日发射的“发现号”航天飞机也应该不会造成威胁，但美国会对发射时间进行重新评估。
新的太空武器？
一定是毛子施放的新式太空武器~
有其他报道没有啊？
环球时报的东西。。嘿嘿
环球时报的东西。。嘿嘿
铱星系统现在处于什么状态?
:D 第一次大气层外战争打响
不是事故吧
太空那么大 撞到的几率也太小了吧
太空那么大 撞到的几率也太小了吧
又是误撞？？？？？？？？？？
原帖由 rockglass 于 2009-2-12 09:49 发表
有其他报道没有啊？
环球时报的东西。。嘿嘿
环球时报引用的正是美国媒体的消息。
2 orbiting satellites collide 500 miles up
3 hours ago
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two communications satellites have collided in the first-ever crash of two intact spacecraft in orbit, NASA said Wednesday.
The collision occurred Tuesday nearly 500 miles over Siberia. The crash produced a pair of massive debris clouds, and the magnitude of the situation won't be known for weeks at least, said NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries.
However, any risk to the international space station, which orbits below the collision course, is thought to be low. There also should be no danger to the upcoming space shuttle flight, targeted for liftoff no earlier than Feb. 22, "but they're continuing to analyze any possible risk," Humphries said.
The collision involved an Iridium commercial satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 and believed to be nonfunctioning. Each satellite weighed well over 1,000 pounds.
There have been four other cases in which space objects have collided accidentally in orbit, NASA said. But those were considered minor events and involved parts of spent rockets or small satellites.
http://www.google.com/hostednews ... wD1RgRUwCAD969LBLO1
消息其实是从NASA来的，应该是真的。
In a space first, 2 satellites orbiting Earth collide, are destroyed
Buzz up!Like this story? Share it with Yahoo! Buzz
In a space first, two communications satellites collided and were destroyed yesterday about 500 miles above Russia, NASA reports.
Officials told Spaceflight Now that the International Space Station did not appear to be threatened by the giant debris cloud. It's not clear, however, if other military or civilian satellites may be at risk.
The collision involved an Iridium communications satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian Cosmos satellite launched in 1993 that apparently was not functioning. Each weighed more than 1,000 pounds, and officials said they were tracking hundreds of pieces of wreckage produced by the crash.
NASA has a real-time map that tracks more than 8,000 man-made objects orbiting Earth, including about 2,500 satellites (operational or defunct).
The Iridium satellite was one of a network of 66 satellites in low-Earth orbit. The company said the loss would have "minimal impact" on service to its 309,000 subscribers, which include the Pentagon, other government agencies and various land, sea and aviation industries. The Defense Department is the dominant user.
The system, developed by Motorola, has had a rocky ride over the years, including bankruptcy by its former owners.
Here's are photos of an Iridium replica that's on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Skywatchers report seeing "flares" as the satellites circle the globe at night.
(Iridium graphic by Motorola. Debris-tracking map by NASA
In a space first, 2 satellites orbiting Earth collide, are destroyed
Buzz up!Like this story? Share it with Yahoo! Buzz
In a space first, two communications satellites collided and were destroyed yesterday about 500 miles above Russia, NASA reports.
Officials told Spaceflight Now that the International Space Station did not appear to be threatened by the giant debris cloud. It's not clear, however, if other military or civilian satellites may be at risk.
The collision involved an Iridium communications satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian Cosmos satellite launched in 1993 that apparently was not functioning. Each weighed more than 1,000 pounds, and officials said they were tracking hundreds of pieces of wreckage produced by the crash.
NASA has a real-time map that tracks more than 8,000 man-made objects orbiting Earth, including about 2,500 satellites (operational or defunct).
The Iridium satellite was one of a network of 66 satellites in low-Earth orbit. The company said the loss would have "minimal impact" on service to its 309,000 subscribers, which include the Pentagon, other government agencies and various land, sea and aviation industries. The Defense Department is the dominant user.
The system, developed by Motorola, has had a rocky ride over the years, including bankruptcy by its former owners.
Here's are photos of an Iridium replica that's on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Skywatchers report seeing "flares" as the satellites circle the globe at night.
(Iridium graphic by Motorola. Debris-tracking map by NASA
谷歌上的全部新闻：http://news.google.com/news/stor ... &ncl=1303405535
不是很懂啊：一颗卫星失去控制后，正好把其他的卫星给撞了，这个概率和我中彩票相比，哪个来得高？[:a9:] [:a9:]
原帖由 zhizunwudi2790 于 2009-2-12 10:05 发表
不是很懂啊：一颗卫星失去控制后，正好把其他的卫星给撞了，这个概率和我中彩票相比，哪个来得高？[:a9:] [:a9:]
一样高，也可以说一样低
趋近于0
明显是毛子的反卫星实验嘛。。。。[:a11:] :P
原帖由 fengshou 于 2009-2-12 10:12 发表
明显是毛子的反卫星实验嘛。。。。[:a11:] :P
不会吧？看NASA的反应，老美没怎么当回事啊？
铱星也差不多处于报废状态吧！铱星公司都破产了，根本就没有运营商！而且这颗铱星也用了十几年了
]]
相撞地点
原帖由 zhizunwudi2790 于 2009-2-12 10:16 发表
不会吧？看NASA的反应，老美没怎么当回事啊？
当然不能有反应了，否则不是正中毛子下怀？
私下里面的交涉是肯定有的。
总之，这种概率几乎为0的事件，就算真的是意外，老美也绝不可能轻易的认为它是意外。
原帖由 zhizunwudi2790 于 2009-2-12 10:16 发表
不会吧？看NASA的反应，老美没怎么当回事啊？
那就是米国在试验杀手卫星攻击未知轨道卫星了？:o
原帖由 sd6632221 于 2009-2-12 10:20 发表
铱星也差不多处于报废状态吧！铱星公司都破产了，根本就没有运营商！而且这颗铱星也用了十几年了
铱星公司破产了，但铱星系统还在运行吧？好象是西门子？
前不久，中国南极考察站不还通过铱星与国内联系了吗？
北京青年报：(05/10/18 00:00)
近日，西门子通信集团和中宇卫星移动通信有限公司签署合同，将为目前由该公司经营的铱星系统提供移动交换机。中宇是中国卫星通信集团专门从事卫星移动通信工作的成员公司。根据合同，西门子将为该公司提供移动交换机以及工程服务，此项目预计将于今年年底前完成。
===================
这是一篇旧报道
近日，西门子通信集团和中宇卫星移动通信有限公司签署合同，将为目前由该公司经营的铱星系统提供移动交换机。中宇是中国卫星通信集团专门从事卫星移动通信工作的成员公司。根据合同，西门子将为该公司提供移动交换机以及工程服务，此项目预计将于今年年底前完成。
===================
这是一篇旧报道
说是反卫星武器太牵强了吧，难道报废卫星也能作为反卫星武器？何况这颗毛子卫星都15年多了，星载推进器还有燃料？
南极内陆通讯极其困难，手段有限，除夕夜一些队员利用队里的铱星电话给远在万里之外的亲人拜年。
大年初一一早，气温接近零下40摄氏度，内陆队继续干活。机械师曹建西“单人匹马”用雪地车轧出了长达4公里的“昆仑机场”。屈指一算，从电子工程师、搬运工到木匠、护士……曹建西这趟来南极竟已干过11个工种。
2月2日，昆仑站开站仪式结束后，南极内陆队已经开始返回中山站，他们在途中将继续进行中山站—冰穹A断面的科学考察。(余建斌）
大年初一一早，气温接近零下40摄氏度，内陆队继续干活。机械师曹建西“单人匹马”用雪地车轧出了长达4公里的“昆仑机场”。屈指一算，从电子工程师、搬运工到木匠、护士……曹建西这趟来南极竟已干过11个工种。
2月2日，昆仑站开站仪式结束后，南极内陆队已经开始返回中山站，他们在途中将继续进行中山站—冰穹A断面的科学考察。(余建斌）
原帖由 zhizunwudi2790 于 2009-2-12 10:25 发表
铱星公司破产了，但铱星系统还在运行吧？好象是西门子？
前不久，中国南极考察站不还通过铱星与国内联系了吗？
铱卫星设计寿命5-8年，这颗已经将近12年了，你认为还能用吗？
]]
被撞的铱星是正在运营中的。
http://news.qq.com/a/20090212/000772.htm
北京时间2月12日消息,据美国太空网报道,美国铱星公司11日证实,其运营的一颗卫星因10日与一颗报废的俄罗斯卫星发生碰撞遭到破坏,这场事故将导致卫星服务部分中断。在事先准备的一份声明中,这家总部设于马里兰州贝塞斯达的卫星公司将此次太空事故称之为“一次几率非常小的事件”,并表示正采取紧急措施以将服务受限程度降至最低。
铱星公司负责运营绕地球低轨道运行的66颗卫星,向全球提供移动语音和数据通信服务。这家公司说,它的系统仍保持健康状态,13日将实施一项“网络解决方案”。声明称:“在未来30天内,铱星公司会将其运营的其中一颗在轨备用卫星迁入星群网络,以永久性替换这颗受损的卫星。”
2月11日,美国宇航局通过电子邮件发出警告。邮件称,美国东部时间上午11点55分,重900公斤的俄罗斯‘宇宙2251’卫星与铱星公司一颗重560公斤的卫星在西伯利亚上空790公里的区域发生相撞。美国国防部空间监视网观察到此次太空事故,随后对两个大型碎片云进行跟踪。邮件说:“至少需要几周时间才能确定这些已知碎片云的真正数量级。”
目前,宇航局轨道碎片专家正在评估碎片可能对其它卫星和国际空间站构成的威胁。宇航局说:“碎片对空间站构成的威胁非常小,处于可以被接受的范围。”绕距地705公里轨道运行的宇航局“地球观测系统”卫星群是最有可能受波及的对象,必须密切关注。据悉,发生相撞的卫星是1997年发射的“铱33”,俄罗斯的‘宇宙2251’卫星于1993年发射,现已被假定为报废状态。据宇航局透露,“宇宙2251”没有机动系统。
http://news.qq.com/a/20090212/000772.htm
北京时间2月12日消息,据美国太空网报道,美国铱星公司11日证实,其运营的一颗卫星因10日与一颗报废的俄罗斯卫星发生碰撞遭到破坏,这场事故将导致卫星服务部分中断。在事先准备的一份声明中,这家总部设于马里兰州贝塞斯达的卫星公司将此次太空事故称之为“一次几率非常小的事件”,并表示正采取紧急措施以将服务受限程度降至最低。
铱星公司负责运营绕地球低轨道运行的66颗卫星,向全球提供移动语音和数据通信服务。这家公司说,它的系统仍保持健康状态,13日将实施一项“网络解决方案”。声明称:“在未来30天内,铱星公司会将其运营的其中一颗在轨备用卫星迁入星群网络,以永久性替换这颗受损的卫星。”
2月11日,美国宇航局通过电子邮件发出警告。邮件称,美国东部时间上午11点55分,重900公斤的俄罗斯‘宇宙2251’卫星与铱星公司一颗重560公斤的卫星在西伯利亚上空790公里的区域发生相撞。美国国防部空间监视网观察到此次太空事故,随后对两个大型碎片云进行跟踪。邮件说:“至少需要几周时间才能确定这些已知碎片云的真正数量级。”
目前,宇航局轨道碎片专家正在评估碎片可能对其它卫星和国际空间站构成的威胁。宇航局说:“碎片对空间站构成的威胁非常小,处于可以被接受的范围。”绕距地705公里轨道运行的宇航局“地球观测系统”卫星群是最有可能受波及的对象,必须密切关注。据悉,发生相撞的卫星是1997年发射的“铱33”,俄罗斯的‘宇宙2251’卫星于1993年发射,现已被假定为报废状态。据宇航局透露,“宇宙2251”没有机动系统。
专家解读卫星相撞两种可能:或为测试太空武器http://news.QQ.com 2009年02月12日10:14 腾讯科技 析儿 我要评论(0) 腾讯科技讯2月12日消息，针对刚刚发生的人类历史上首例卫星相撞事件，卫星领域专家、中国卫星应用大会主席杨千里向腾讯科技分析称，本次相撞应有两种可能。一是由于太空中的偶然的因素，另一种是卫星所属的某一方，利用作废卫星进行试验，测试其未来太空武器的某些可行性。在太空历史上，也曾有过类似的试验。
据介绍，美国有几十颗铱星，而截至发稿，还没有确认美方本次发生相撞的这颗铱星是已经作废，还是在继续正常运转。
对于卫星相撞所产生的大量电子垃圾，杨千里则表示，目前电子垃圾的应对方式通常是等待其自动消失。美国目前有六七家专业性的机构，监测电子垃圾的最新变化。
此前，据美联社11日报道，美国和俄罗斯的两颗通信卫星10日在太空相撞，产生了大量太空垃圾，可能会对国际空间站造成威胁。
(腾讯科技)
据介绍，美国有几十颗铱星，而截至发稿，还没有确认美方本次发生相撞的这颗铱星是已经作废，还是在继续正常运转。
对于卫星相撞所产生的大量电子垃圾，杨千里则表示，目前电子垃圾的应对方式通常是等待其自动消失。美国目前有六七家专业性的机构，监测电子垃圾的最新变化。
此前，据美联社11日报道，美国和俄罗斯的两颗通信卫星10日在太空相撞，产生了大量太空垃圾，可能会对国际空间站造成威胁。
(腾讯科技)
俄国人93年发射的卫星就知道美国人97年发射的卫星的轨道参数，而且经过计算恰好在09年2月相撞。为这一天，俄国人苦等了16年啊～～～～～～
这一刻，俄国人泪如雨下.......
这一刻，俄国人泪如雨下.......
铱星公司是如何起死回生的？
2009年2月1日亚利桑那共和报
by Max Jarman - Feb. 1, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Ten years later, Iridium is alive and well in Tempe.
The high-profile Motorola venture crashed in a spectacular 1999 bankruptcy after its technologically flawless but pricey satellite phone system failed to catch on with consumers.
Only a handful of employees remained in 2000, when Iridium Satellites LLC paid $25 million for the array of orbiting satellites that Motorola and other investors spent more than $5 billion to develop.
The new leadership refocused the business on industrial customers, not consumers. The company, now profitable, is working on a $2.7 billion replacement of the aging satellite network.
Fittingly, it has brought back many of the project's early engineers to design the new system. "I jumped at the opportunity to come back," said Suzi McBride, who joined Motorola in 1993 to help design the groundbreaking system that would provide wireless phone service anywhere in the world.
"It was a fantastic project for a young engineer to work on because it had never been done before."
She's been working on the next-generation satellite constellation for two years and finds the work just as exciting and rewarding as before.
Of the 90 employees currently working for Iridium in Arizona, about half worked on the original project.
While Motorola's technology - which kept 66 satellites in seamless communication as they circled the globe - was viewed as brilliant, its business plan was a disaster.
The $9-per-minute service and the clunky $3,000 handsets never caught on with consumers, who favored the conventional cellphone service that improved dramatically while Iridium was in development.
Customers complained they applied for Iridium service, were sent information kits, but never were contacted by a sales representative.
They said they encountered programming problems on Iridium's Web site and the "runaround" from the company's representatives.
"It was a good idea," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst in Atlanta. "They just couldn't sell enough of them to make it profitable."
Iridium North America garnered only about 50,000 of the more than 200,000 customers it needed to be viable. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1999 after defaulting on $1.5 billion in loans. The service had been operational for only nine months.
It was labeled one of the biggest business disasters of the decade and one of a series of business missteps that ultimately humbled telecommunications giant Motorola Inc.
After about a year in orbit, the entire network came close to burning up in the Earth's atmosphere when no one took over the network.
Former Pan American World Airways President Dan Colussy finally put together a group to buy the assets, including the satellite network, Earth stations and Tempe headquarters building for $25 million.
"The first day we had to buy supplies for the restrooms and start the business from scratch," said Matthew Desch, Iridium's chairman and CEO.
The company, which once had hundreds of employees in Arizona, had only seven when the new group arrived.
New model
Colussy refocused the business on industrial customers and the military. Instead of selling the high-priced service to consumers, he sold it to shipping lines, oil companies, railroads and trucking companies that needed to keep in contact with workers who were often out of the reach of traditional cellular networks.
Scott Mileur of Palmer, Alaska, uses an Iridium phone to communicate while guiding big-game hunting expeditions of Kodiak Island and other remote parts of the state, where there is no cellphone service.
"I use it to arrange air pick-ups, to talk to my wife and communicate with other hunting camps," he said.
The company has 309,000 subscribers, including about 33,000 telephones deployed with the U.S. military and many more sensor-based applications to track equipment and soldiers.
"When troops call home from Iraq, it's usually on one of our phones," Desch said.
Iridium phones also were a primary source of communication in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and after the earthquake in China last year.
"There will always be a need for a connection in an area where there isn't one," Kagan said. "In those areas, the only option is a service like Iridium."
In addition to the U.S. military, major Iridium customers include ConocoPhillips, FedEx, UPS and MedEvac.
The phones still are expensive, about $1000, but they are significantly smaller and more technologically advanced than the originals. The service costs about $1 per minute, expensive by cellphone standards, but much less than when it was originally offered.
Although Motorola insisted on developing its own technology and products, the new Iridium has dozens of partners who have developed specific applications using the company's technology.
Autonomous data transmissions have become the fastest-growing part of the business, which had 2008 sales of about $300 million. Iridium technology is monitoring oil pipelines, wind turbines, generators and other equipment in remote locations all over the world.
2nd generation
Although the new company technically is based in Bethesda, Md., its human-resources, marketing, engineering and product-development operations are in Tempe.
The satellites are flown by the Boeing Co. from Leesburg, Va., under a contract with Iridium. The gateway, where data and phone transmissions are downloaded from the satellites to ground communications networks, is in Tempe.
Data transmission was an afterthought with the original system, but will be integral in planning the new satellites. They also will be designed to carry commercial payloads, such as climate sensors, for other companies. Iridium estimates the payloads could generate $1 billion in revenue over the estimated 15-year life of the new constellation.
Iridium expects to award a $2.7 billion contract later this year to either Lockheed Martin Corp. or Europe's Thales Alenia Space for 66 new satellites, plus six spares. The two companies are the finalists in a bidding competition for the work.
Iridium plans to begin launching the new satellites in 2014 and have the system operational by 2016. The two arrays will initially operate in tandem, but eventually the older satellites will be taken out of orbit and eventually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
To help finance the new network, Iridium is proposing to merge with a publicly held special-purpose acquisition corporation formed by New York investment banker Greenhill & Co.
GHL Acquisition Corp. raised $400 million, through an initial public offering, to be used to make an unspecified acquisition.
The deal would make Iridium a public company again and provide a vehicle to raise capital to build the new satellites. GHL's stockholders are expected to vote on the deal later this year.
Kagan believes there clearly is more demand for Iridium service now than when it was first offered, largely due to computer advances, growth of the Internet and an increasingly global economy.
"People increasingly need information from those remote areas," he said.
2009年2月1日亚利桑那共和报
by Max Jarman - Feb. 1, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Ten years later, Iridium is alive and well in Tempe.
The high-profile Motorola venture crashed in a spectacular 1999 bankruptcy after its technologically flawless but pricey satellite phone system failed to catch on with consumers.
Only a handful of employees remained in 2000, when Iridium Satellites LLC paid $25 million for the array of orbiting satellites that Motorola and other investors spent more than $5 billion to develop.
The new leadership refocused the business on industrial customers, not consumers. The company, now profitable, is working on a $2.7 billion replacement of the aging satellite network.
Fittingly, it has brought back many of the project's early engineers to design the new system. "I jumped at the opportunity to come back," said Suzi McBride, who joined Motorola in 1993 to help design the groundbreaking system that would provide wireless phone service anywhere in the world.
"It was a fantastic project for a young engineer to work on because it had never been done before."
She's been working on the next-generation satellite constellation for two years and finds the work just as exciting and rewarding as before.
Of the 90 employees currently working for Iridium in Arizona, about half worked on the original project.
While Motorola's technology - which kept 66 satellites in seamless communication as they circled the globe - was viewed as brilliant, its business plan was a disaster.
The $9-per-minute service and the clunky $3,000 handsets never caught on with consumers, who favored the conventional cellphone service that improved dramatically while Iridium was in development.
Customers complained they applied for Iridium service, were sent information kits, but never were contacted by a sales representative.
They said they encountered programming problems on Iridium's Web site and the "runaround" from the company's representatives.
"It was a good idea," said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst in Atlanta. "They just couldn't sell enough of them to make it profitable."
Iridium North America garnered only about 50,000 of the more than 200,000 customers it needed to be viable. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1999 after defaulting on $1.5 billion in loans. The service had been operational for only nine months.
It was labeled one of the biggest business disasters of the decade and one of a series of business missteps that ultimately humbled telecommunications giant Motorola Inc.
After about a year in orbit, the entire network came close to burning up in the Earth's atmosphere when no one took over the network.
Former Pan American World Airways President Dan Colussy finally put together a group to buy the assets, including the satellite network, Earth stations and Tempe headquarters building for $25 million.
"The first day we had to buy supplies for the restrooms and start the business from scratch," said Matthew Desch, Iridium's chairman and CEO.
The company, which once had hundreds of employees in Arizona, had only seven when the new group arrived.
New model
Colussy refocused the business on industrial customers and the military. Instead of selling the high-priced service to consumers, he sold it to shipping lines, oil companies, railroads and trucking companies that needed to keep in contact with workers who were often out of the reach of traditional cellular networks.
Scott Mileur of Palmer, Alaska, uses an Iridium phone to communicate while guiding big-game hunting expeditions of Kodiak Island and other remote parts of the state, where there is no cellphone service.
"I use it to arrange air pick-ups, to talk to my wife and communicate with other hunting camps," he said.
The company has 309,000 subscribers, including about 33,000 telephones deployed with the U.S. military and many more sensor-based applications to track equipment and soldiers.
"When troops call home from Iraq, it's usually on one of our phones," Desch said.
Iridium phones also were a primary source of communication in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and after the earthquake in China last year.
"There will always be a need for a connection in an area where there isn't one," Kagan said. "In those areas, the only option is a service like Iridium."
In addition to the U.S. military, major Iridium customers include ConocoPhillips, FedEx, UPS and MedEvac.
The phones still are expensive, about $1000, but they are significantly smaller and more technologically advanced than the originals. The service costs about $1 per minute, expensive by cellphone standards, but much less than when it was originally offered.
Although Motorola insisted on developing its own technology and products, the new Iridium has dozens of partners who have developed specific applications using the company's technology.
Autonomous data transmissions have become the fastest-growing part of the business, which had 2008 sales of about $300 million. Iridium technology is monitoring oil pipelines, wind turbines, generators and other equipment in remote locations all over the world.
2nd generation
Although the new company technically is based in Bethesda, Md., its human-resources, marketing, engineering and product-development operations are in Tempe.
The satellites are flown by the Boeing Co. from Leesburg, Va., under a contract with Iridium. The gateway, where data and phone transmissions are downloaded from the satellites to ground communications networks, is in Tempe.
Data transmission was an afterthought with the original system, but will be integral in planning the new satellites. They also will be designed to carry commercial payloads, such as climate sensors, for other companies. Iridium estimates the payloads could generate $1 billion in revenue over the estimated 15-year life of the new constellation.
Iridium expects to award a $2.7 billion contract later this year to either Lockheed Martin Corp. or Europe's Thales Alenia Space for 66 new satellites, plus six spares. The two companies are the finalists in a bidding competition for the work.
Iridium plans to begin launching the new satellites in 2014 and have the system operational by 2016. The two arrays will initially operate in tandem, but eventually the older satellites will be taken out of orbit and eventually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
To help finance the new network, Iridium is proposing to merge with a publicly held special-purpose acquisition corporation formed by New York investment banker Greenhill & Co.
GHL Acquisition Corp. raised $400 million, through an initial public offering, to be used to make an unspecified acquisition.
The deal would make Iridium a public company again and provide a vehicle to raise capital to build the new satellites. GHL's stockholders are expected to vote on the deal later this year.
Kagan believes there clearly is more demand for Iridium service now than when it was first offered, largely due to computer advances, growth of the Internet and an increasingly global economy.
"People increasingly need information from those remote areas," he said.
俺们是击落自个的卫星，还是毛子牛B多了，报废的还能拉个垫背！:D ;P
]]
公司不是挂了吗？不过这次损失不算严重，毕竟还是有不少备份的！
对啊，那会看了好多报道,不是说铱星公司完蛋了吗,成本太高，用户太少的
腾讯网友： 美俄卫星太空相撞 残骸或威...[1楼] 上海市 做个好人 发表于1小时前
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伊拉克人民传来贺电,声称要像俄方学习
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[6楼] 116.11.231.* 腾讯网友 发表于42分钟前
安徽人民发来贺电！恭喜俄罗斯报废掉老美一颗间谍卫星！
[7楼] 上海市 腾讯网友 发表于35分钟前
恭祝俄罗斯卫星撞老美间谍卫星“玩”美成功！
[8楼] 116.11.231.* 腾讯网友 发表于31分钟前
四川人民发来贺电，祝贺俄罗斯空间站实战演习“玩美”成功！
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贵州人民发来贺电。
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不明真相的愚人发来唁电！！！
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贵州人民在次发来贺电，恭喜美国佬报废一个卫星
驻亚丁湾护航部队发来贺电
上海人民发来贺电！恭喜俄罗斯报废掉老美一颗间谍卫星！
[2楼] 广州市 腾讯网友 发表于1小时前
索马里人民发来贺电,恭喜了
[3楼] 116.7.120.* 腾讯网友 发表于1小时前
本.拉登传来贺电,声称要像俄方学习
[4楼] 南宁市 腾讯网友 发表于59分钟前
伊拉克人民传来贺电,声称要像俄方学习
[5楼] 116.11.231.* 腾讯网友 发表于48分钟前
广西人民发来贺电，祝贺俄罗斯卫星太空实战演习取得完满成功！
[6楼] 116.11.231.* 腾讯网友 发表于42分钟前
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拉登发来贺电，称俄罗斯比他还猛。
[10楼] 黔西南州 腾讯网友 发表于21分钟前
贵州人民发来贺电。
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[13楼] 贵州省 腾讯网友 发表于9分钟前
贵州人民在次发来贺电，恭喜美国佬报废一个卫星
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不负责任YY:
美方指责俄以卫星报废为借口,故意攻击美国卫星,目前美方正在对约500块体积较大的碎片进行跟踪,以确保国际空间站的安全,并称俄方需对美方进行赔偿,NASA发表声明,由于碎片严重影响国际空间站和相关轨道卫星,以及对将于2月22日发射的“发现号”航天飞机造成威胁,初步估计损失费用为1.27亿美元;美国LLC铱星公司称(被撞卫星为铱星公司所属),由相撞所带来的通信损失为5.7亿美元......
俄方称,那颗卫星实际上是美国的军用间谍卫星,当时正在俄方上空侦察,并强烈干扰了俄方卫星通信系统,俄完全是自卫行为,俄强烈谴责美蓄意挑起太空战争的行为....
中方:对此事表示关注,并强调中方一贯支持和平利用太空,反对太空武器化....
美方指责俄以卫星报废为借口,故意攻击美国卫星,目前美方正在对约500块体积较大的碎片进行跟踪,以确保国际空间站的安全,并称俄方需对美方进行赔偿,NASA发表声明,由于碎片严重影响国际空间站和相关轨道卫星,以及对将于2月22日发射的“发现号”航天飞机造成威胁,初步估计损失费用为1.27亿美元;美国LLC铱星公司称(被撞卫星为铱星公司所属),由相撞所带来的通信损失为5.7亿美元......
俄方称,那颗卫星实际上是美国的军用间谍卫星,当时正在俄方上空侦察,并强烈干扰了俄方卫星通信系统,俄完全是自卫行为,俄强烈谴责美蓄意挑起太空战争的行为....
中方:对此事表示关注,并强调中方一贯支持和平利用太空,反对太空武器化....
我星奉命撞向你星
恐怖伊万
美国制造太空垃圾,威胁世界和平!!!
谁撞谁还真说不清，但肯定不会是误撞吧。呵呵