PARIS — Iridium Communications Chief Executive Matt Desch, an active proponent of measures to mitigate the accumulation of orbital debris, since October has had a first-hand look at the unpredictability of constellation management.
That’s when a titanium fuel tank likely from Iridium’s SV-70 satellite launched 20 years ago fell into a California walnut grove. It was apparently the first time an old Iridium satellite had survived reentry. As of Jan. 3, 46 first-generation spacecraft had been deorbited, Iridium said.
In a Jan. 3 conference call . . .
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