 The Iridium NEXT network covers the entire Earth, including poles, oceans and airways, with 66 satellites, with the remaining 9 acting as active backups, for a total of 75 launched.Six remain on the ground as spares for a total of 81 built.Iridium Satellite LLC merged with a special purpose acquisition company (GHQ) created by the investment bank Greenhill & Co. in September 2009 to create Iridium Communications Inc.