
Iridium Communications Inc. [IRDM] announced the date for the first launch of its next global satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT, as Dec. 16, 2016, pending Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval, the company said Dec. 1.The launch is set to take place on a Space Explorations Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Iridium plans to use to Falcon 9 to deliver a total of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites at a time into low-Earth orbit (LEO).However, the first…