
3 Months After Explosion, SpaceX Plans to Launch Rocket Bearing Satellites - JumpCrisscross
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/science/spacex-rocket-iridium-satellite.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_dk_20161202&nl=dealbook&nl_art=11&nlid=65508833&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
======
andars
Originally read this as "plans to launch (rocket-bearing) satellites" (as in
satellites which carry rockets), which would have been interesting indeed.

I suppose all satellites have thrusters, but that isn't what came to mind.

~~~
freehunter
I agree, it's a terribly ambiguous headline. Headlines have a way of dropping
everything that gives context to a sentence. Makes sense when you're limited
to a relatively small piece of paper, but on the Internet you can write as
much as you want. So put those extra words back in there! "SpaceX plans on
launching a rocket bearing a satellite"... or better yet, "SpaceX plans on
launching a rocket _containing_ a satellite".

~~~
m_mueller
How about "SpaceX plans to return with a commercial launch"?

------
LeoPanthera
The most fascinating aspect of this to me is that Iridium still exists.

Who uses it, and what for? I can imagine a few uses for emergency comms in
particularly out-of-the-way locations, but it's hard to imagine how that makes
enough money to maintain an entire constellation of satellites.

~~~
eettu
They have the only global, instant availability, low latency, SBD (short burst
data) capability.

Transmitter is very small as well.
[https://www.iridium.com/products/details/iridium-9603](https://www.iridium.com/products/details/iridium-9603)

~~~
ortusdux
You can get a ready to use Arduino shield for 250$. The service is 12$ a
month. Not bad.

------
ridgeguy
For anyone interested in the story of the Iridium system, including its many
near-death business episodes, I can recommend "Eccentric Orbits", by John
Bloom.

