[Satellite TODAY 09-24-12] Lockheed Martin has completed a key software design milestone for Iridium, the company announced Sept. 24. Lockheed Martin’s Application Software for the Iridium NEXT constellation held the Critical Design Review, which showed that the design is at a high level of maturity and keeps this new generation of communications satellites solidly on schedule toward a first launch in 2015.
   "Successfully completing this milestone verifies that the Iridium NEXT application software will operate as promised to deliver greatly enhanced telecommunications services. The new software supports all capabilities currently available to Iridium subscribers and its modular design will allow 3G services to be seamlessly implemented into the new constellation,” Bob Kramer, vice president of Operational Systems & Services for Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions-Defense, said in a statement.