Artist’s rendition of the first 6 OG2 satellites. Photo: SNC

[Via Satellite 12-31-2014] Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), prime contractor for the Orbcomm Second Generation (OG2) satellites transferred operations to Orbcomm in mid-September, the company reported this month. In the 60 days following the July 14 launch by SpaceX, SNC and Orbcomm completed the deployment and checkout of all six spacecraft.

SNC and Orbcomm connected their control centers in Louisville, Colo. and Sterling, Va. respectively, to collaboratively manage initial operations and in-orbit testing. More than 25 percent of Orbcomm’s Machine-to-Machine (M2M) traffic has switched to OG2 satellites. The next 11 satellites are now slated to launch in mid-2015. The OG2 satellites are built on SNC’s SN-100 spacecraft bus.