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U.S. - Russian Satellite Collision Over SiberiaThe wide debris field left over from Wednesday's collision of two communication satellites could pose a problem for many years to come, General Cartwright, Space Security, said it maybe a month before the details are compiled. A commercial satellite owned by U.S. company Iridium Satellite LLC, was destroyed in a collision with a with a non-operational Russian satellite. NASA said was the first such accident in orbit. Although this event has minimal impact on Iridium’s service, the company is taking immediate action to address the loss. The Iridium constellation is healthy, and this event is not the result of a failure on the part of Iridium or its technology. While this is an extremely unusual, very low-probability event, the Iridium constellation is uniquely designed to withstand such an event, and the company is taking the necessary steps to replace the lost satellite with one of its in-orbit spare satellites. The Iridium constellation consists of 66 LEO, cross-linked satellites and has multiple in-orbit spares. The satellites are in a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 485 miles (780 km). They circle the earth once every 100 minutes traveling at a rate of 16,832 miles per hour. Each satellite is cross-linked to four other satellites. |
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