Subject: Five Iridium communications satellites launched

Five Iridium communications satellites launched

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Copyright =A9 1997 Nando.net
Copyright =A9 1997 Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON (September 27, 1997 10:15 a.m. EDT http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/092797/info5_17590_noframes.htm)
- Five satellites from the Iridium communications network were
successfully launched late Friday from the Vandenberg Air Force Base
in California, according to the consortium.

The satellites were taken into orbit by a Boeing Delta II rocket.

Iridium is a network of low orbiting satellites that will provide
wireless communications for most of the planet when all 66 of their
satellites are in orbit.

The first five satellites of the network were placed in orbit in
May.

The current launch brings the number of Iridium satellites in orbit
to 34, more than half of those planned for the system being developed
by U.S.-based Motorola and international partners.

In July contact was lost with one of the network satellites. The
satellite was put in a holding pattern while engineers attempted to
find the cause of the problem.

Each Iridium satellite weighs 1,516 pounds, and is expected to have
a working life of between five and eight years.

Iridium is a land-based wireless system that will allow subscribers
to communicate using handheld telephones and pagers virtually
anywhere in the world. Service is planned for 1998.

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- Five Iridium communications satellites launched
    Iridium is a network of low orbiting satellites that will provide
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- Corel's crisis: What's the next move?
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