Iridium satellite system

E246425

low Earth orbit satellite constellation mobile satellite service system satellite communication system

The Iridium satellite system is a global network of low Earth orbit communication satellites that provides worldwide voice and data coverage, including for remote sensing platforms like Argo floats.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (10)

Label	Occurrences
Iridium Certus	2
Iridium satellite constellation	2
Iridium satellite system canonical	2
Iridium	1
Iridium Communications Inc.	1
Iridium NEXT	1
Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD)	1
Iridium satellite network	1
Iridium satellite phone service	1
Iridium satellite phone system	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2208951 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Iridium satellite system
Context triple: [Argo floats, dataTransmittedVia, Iridium satellite system]

A. Argos satellite system
The Argos satellite system is a global satellite-based data collection and location system used to relay environmental and oceanographic measurements from remote platforms such as Argo floats to data centers.
B. Galileo satellite navigation system
The Galileo satellite navigation system is the European Union’s global navigation satellite system designed to provide highly accurate positioning and timing services worldwide as an independent alternative to GPS and other GNSS constellations.
C. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-B
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-B was a NASA communications satellite intended to relay data between spacecraft in low Earth orbit and ground stations as part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).
D. GLONASS
GLONASS is Russia’s global satellite navigation system, providing worldwide positioning and timing services as an alternative to GPS.
E. ANIK C2 communications satellite
ANIK C2 is a Canadian commercial communications satellite used to provide telecommunications and broadcasting services.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Iridium satellite system
Target entity description: The Iridium satellite system is a global network of low Earth orbit communication satellites that provides worldwide voice and data coverage, including for remote sensing platforms like Argo floats.

A. Argos satellite system
The Argos satellite system is a global satellite-based data collection and location system used to relay environmental and oceanographic measurements from remote platforms such as Argo floats to data centers.
B. Galileo satellite navigation system
The Galileo satellite navigation system is the European Union’s global navigation satellite system designed to provide highly accurate positioning and timing services worldwide as an independent alternative to GPS and other GNSS constellations.
C. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-B
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-B was a NASA communications satellite intended to relay data between spacecraft in low Earth orbit and ground stations as part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS).
D. GLONASS
GLONASS is Russia’s global satellite navigation system, providing worldwide positioning and timing services as an alternative to GPS.
E. ANIK C2 communications satellite
ANIK C2 is a Canadian commercial communications satellite used to provide telecommunications and broadcasting services.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (61)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	low Earth orbit satellite constellation ⓘ mobile satellite service system ⓘ satellite communication system ⓘ
altitude	approximately 780 kilometers ⓘ
commercialServiceStartDate	1998 ⓘ
constellationDesign	Walker star ⓘ
countryOfRegistration	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
coverageType	oceanic coverage ⓘ pole-to-pole ⓘ remote area coverage ⓘ
formerOperator	Iridium LLC ⓘ
globalCoverage	yes ⓘ
hasAdvantage	provides coverage in polar regions ⓘ supports low-power remote instruments ⓘ works independently of ground-based cellular networks ⓘ
hasInterSatelliteLinks	yes ⓘ
headquartersLocationOfOperator	McLean, Virginia, United States ⓘ linked to: McLean
inclination	86.4 degrees ⓘ
initialDeploymentCompletionDate	1998 ⓘ
initialDeploymentStartDate	1997 ⓘ
interSatelliteLinkType	crosslinks in space ⓘ
launchProviderForUpgrade	SpaceX ⓘ
launchVehicleUsedForUpgrade	Falcon 9 ⓘ linked to: Falcon 9 rocket
notableApplication	global asset tracking ⓘ remote environmental monitoring ⓘ satellite phone service ⓘ telemetry for Argo profiling floats ⓘ
numberOfInOrbitSpares	9 ⓘ
numberOfOrbitalPlanes	6 ⓘ
operator	Iridium Communications Inc. ⓘ linked to: Iridium satellite system
orbitalRegime	low Earth orbit ⓘ
orbitType	near-polar orbit ⓘ sun-synchronous-like orbit ⓘ
originalNumberOfSatellites	66 operational plus spares ⓘ
primaryUserGroup	aviation industry ⓘ emergency services ⓘ maritime industry ⓘ military users ⓘ scientific research community ⓘ
satellitesPerPlane	11 ⓘ
serviceType	aviation communication ⓘ data communication ⓘ land mobile communication ⓘ machine-to-machine communication ⓘ maritime communication ⓘ short-burst data ⓘ voice communication ⓘ
supportsPlatformType	Argo floats ⓘ IoT devices ⓘ autonomous vehicles ⓘ buoys ⓘ remote sensing platforms ⓘ
supportsService	Iridium Certus ⓘ linked to: Iridium satellite system Iridium OpenPort ⓘ Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD) ⓘ linked to: Iridium satellite system
totalOperationalSatellites	66 ⓘ
upgradedConstellationName	Iridium NEXT ⓘ linked to: Iridium satellite system
upgradeLaunchPeriodEnd	2019 ⓘ
upgradeLaunchPeriodStart	2017 ⓘ
usesFrequencyBand	Ka-band (crosslinks) ⓘ L-band ⓘ

How these facts were elicited