Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This satellite is the heart of a space-based communications system called Iridium. Conceived, designed, and built by Motorola, the Iridium system provides wireless, mobile communications through a network of 66 satellites in polar, low-Earth orbits. Inaugurated in November 1998, under the auspices of Iridium LLC, this complex space system allowed callers using hand-held mobile phones and pagers to communicate anywhere in the world--a first in the history of telephony.

The system is still operational today. Designed primarily for commercial communications, the U.S. government has used Iridium extensively in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This artifact was the first prototype satellite Motorola built for Iridium, and it includes engineering and flight components. The company donated it to the Museum in 1998.

 Display Status

This object is on display in One World Connected at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

One World Connected
Object Details
Country of Origin United States of America Type SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed Manufacturer Motorola Space and Systems Technology Group, Satellites Communications Division
 Dimensions Overall (sat. bus, triangular config.): 13ft 1 1/2in. x 26ft 2 15/16in. x 3ft 3 3/8in., 860lb. (400.05 x 799.94 x 100.01cm, 390.1kg)
Overall (Shipping container): 221 × 226.1 × 586.7cm, 5279.9kg (7 ft. 3 in. × 7 ft. 5 in. × 19 ft. 3 in., 11640lb.)
 Materials Satellite bus: aluminum, mylar; payload: aluminum, copper, plastic; solar panels: aluminum, glass, silicon
 Alternate Name Communications Satellite, Iridium Inventory Number A19990005000 Credit Line Gift of Motorola, Inc. Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
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