Furuno Electric has unveiled its SOLION-100 terminal for Iridium GMDSS, combining Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, Ship Security Alert System, and Long-Range Identification and Tracking capabilities in a single platform. The terminal uses Iridium Certus 100 technology and operates on Iridium's low-Earth orbit satellite network, providing global coverage including polar regions. Iridium GMDSS became operational in 2020 after International Maritime Organization recognition, marking the first new satellite GMDSS provider since the system's establishment. The service supports maritime safety communications from navigational warnings to distress alerts and direct voice contact with rescue coordination centres. The SOLION-100 will be available for retrofit applications in late 2026, with newbuild project availability expected in 2027. The announcement was made at SMM Hamburg in September 2026.

IRIDIUM 114: satellite of the day, 11 aug 2026. IRIDIUM 114, launched January 2017 on the first Iridium NEXT Falcon 9 mission from Vandenberg, orbits at 774 x 793 km providing L-band comms and ADS-B tracking. IRIDIUM 114 is a communications and traffic monitoring satellite operated by Iridium LLC, part of the Iridium NEXT constellation that replaced the original Iridium fleet starting in 2017. It launched on January 14, 2017, from Vandenberg Space Force Base (SLC-4E) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. This was the first Iridium NEXT launch, carrying ten satellites that began the multi-year replacement of one of the most ambitious satellite constellations ever built. Now over nine years into a ten-year design life (with a planned fifteen-year operational target), IRIDIUM 114 remains active in its near-polar orbit. The satellite provides L-band voice and data services, carries Ka-band cross-links for inter-satellite routing, and hosts secondary payloads for ADS-B aircraft tracking and AIS ship monitoring. Mission and history. The Iridium NEXT program replaced all 66 active satellites (plus spares) in the original Iridium constellation, which had been operating since the late 1990s. Iridium LLC contracted Thales Alenia Space (through Orbital ATK, now part of Northrop Grumman, as the bus manufacturer) to build 81 NEXT satellites on the ELiTeBus-1000 platform. The January 2017 inaugural launch was also a milestone for SpaceX, marking the company's return to flight after the September 2016 AMOS-6 pad explosion. IRIDIUM 114 (designated SV114) carries the standard NEXT payload suite: an L-band communications array for mobile voice and data, Ka-band inter-satellite cross-links that let the constellation route traffic without ground relays, and Ka-band gateway downlinks. The satellite also hosts an Aireon ADS-B receiver for real-time global aircraft surveillance, a capability the original constellation lacked. Some NEXT satellites additionally carry exactEarth AIS receivers for maritime vessel tracking. The satellite measures 3.1 meters long with a 1.5-meter diameter and a 9.4-meter span when its two solar arrays are deployed. Dry mass is 700 kg, with a launch mass of 860 kg. The radar cross-section of 2.44 m^2 reflects the half-hexagonal prism body and extended panel geometry typical of the NEXT design. Orbit analysis. IRIDIUM 114 operates in a near-circular low Earth orbit at roughly 774 x 793 km with an inclination of 86.39 degrees, consistent with the Iridium constellation's near-polar orbital planes. Over the past 89 days, the semi-major axis has been exceptionally stable, varying by only about 13 meters between its minimum and maximum values. The near-zero delta of -0.00008 km across the observation window indicates active station-keeping or, at minimum, negligible drag at this altitude. Inclination has drifted down by 0.0026 degrees over the same period, a small secular trend driven by gravitational perturbations (primarily the J2 oblateness effect and luni-solar forces). Eccentricity holds near 0.00133, confirming the orbit remains very close to circular. None of these trends suggest any anomaly or decommissioning activity. Photometry. IRIDIUM 114 has a mean clear-filter magnitude of 5.93 (σ = 0.5, median 6.0) with a recorded range from 1.77 to 7.55. The satellite is classified as non-variable with no detected periodicity, meaning its brightness stays relatively steady across observation passes. The occasional bright excursions down to magnitude 1.77 likely correspond to specular reflections off the solar panels at favorable sun-observer geometry, though these are far less dramatic than the infamous "Iridium flares" produced by the original constellation's door-sized main mission antennas. Photometric data from the MMT-9 (Mini-MegaTORTORA) survey. Quick facts. | Detail | Value | | NORAD ID | 41923 | | COSPAR ID | 2017-003G | | Operator | Iridium LLC | | Country | United States | | Launch Date | January 14, 2017 | | Launch Site | Vandenberg SFB, SLC-4E | | Launch Vehicle | Falcon 9 | | Mass | 860 kg (launch), 700 kg (dry) | | Orbit | 774 x 793 km, 86.39° inclination | | Purpose | Communication, traffic monitoring (ADS-B/AIS) | | Status | Active | Theodore Kruczek. Theodore 'TK' Kruczek is a radar analyst and former Air Force Major specializing in Space Operations. He is passionate about open-source projects, coding, craft beer, and writing. TK is the creator of KeepTrack.Space and has developed tools like the Orbital Object Toolkit and SignalRange.