The Russian satellite that collided with one from the United States February 10 was apparently non-operational, according the company that owns the U.S. satellite. In a news release, Iridium Satellite LLC, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, said its satellite was functioning.
“Although this event has minimal impact on Iridium’s service, the company is taking immediate action to address the loss,” Iridium’s release said. “The Iridium constellation is healthy, and this event is not the result of a failure on the part of Iridium or its technology.”
According to the release, Iridium operates the largest commercial satellite constellation in the world with 66 satellites plus in-orbit spares. “In terms of the impact to Iridium’s customers, this satellite loss may result in very limited service disruption in the form of brief, occasional outages.” Iridium announced. The company expects to complete a network solution by February 13. Within 30 days, it expects to move one of its in-orbit spare satellites into the network constellation to replace the lost satellite.
