Occasionally we are asked what the Iridium network really consists of. Some non-technical end users of satellite phones take it as a matter of course that the network exists, and provides services to them, but other than that they don't care to know the details.
For those who do ask the interesting questions, Iridium's recent filings with the ICAO shed some light on the architecture of the network. Interestingly this can't be found directly on the Iridium website, which has a less technical overview of the network, but the details on the number of satellites, their orbits, frequency use and earth stations can be easily found in Iridium's technical documentation.
Iridium's Mesh Network
For those who do ask the interesting questions, Iridium's recent filings with the ICAO shed some light on the architecture of the network. Interestingly this can't be found directly on the Iridium website, which has a less technical overview of the network, but the details on the number of satellites, their orbits, frequency use and earth stations can be easily found in Iridium's technical documentation.
Iridium's Mesh Network