Big Win for SpaceX
Orbcomm and SpaceX Reach Deal to Launch Satellite Constellation
“ORBCOMM Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announce they have reached an agreement for SpaceX to launch 18 ORBCOMM Generation 2 (OG2) satellites to begin as early as the fourth quarter of 2010 through 2014. SpaceX will deliver ORBCOMM’s second-generation satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) for the purpose of supporting ORBCOMM’s existing constellation of satellites, adding new features, and growing its global Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) offerings. Each new satellite will be equipped with an enhanced communication payload designed to increase subscriber capacity for M2M communication up to 12 times over the current satellite constellation, increase message sizes, and include AIS detection capability.”