After losing one of its on-orbit communications satellites last month in a collision with an inactive Russian satellite, Iridium has called for more aggressive action on the part of the US government and commercial industry to increase the margin of safety for space operations. In a release March 9, the company said it supports long-term investment, including adding sensors to government and commercial satellites, to improve space situational awareness so that the space environment is better understood. Among its other recommendations, the company calls for improved information sharing between industry and the US government to enhance the timeliness and accuracy of predicting potential collisions, providing warning, and enabling action to be taken to avoid collisions. In the same release, Iridium said it completed the on-orbit replacement of its lost satellite on March 4, thereby restoring its constellation to full strength. (For more, read the March 9 Network World report.)
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.