First things first: Any resemblance between the legendary Iridium satellites and OxidanSky’s Iridia satellites is purely coincidental. Our satellites are named after our Chief Satellite Operator, Iridia Enasteriou. It might strike you as odd that we name things after ourselves. But hey, we are awesome, so why not! And we are very proud of the phenomenal commitment of our staff: They are even willing to send their name to space! Other folks don’t even sign a petty petition for saving the whales.

There’s more to the story, though. Iridia is not the name that was given to our awesome SatOp at birth, despite the fact that there are resounding similarities. Here’s how the naming happened: The woman subsequently known as Iridia was talking to a friend about Iridium flares, something very dear to her heart. She suggested to her friend, who was planning a major event, to embed a session of flare watching. While talking about it, her eyes lit up like a –8.2 mag double Iridium flare. With the noteable difference that the glint in her eyes did not fade, which did not go unnoticed by her friend. He was acutely aware of her enthusiasm and uttered the memorable words: “From now on, I will call you Iridia”.

He was not the only one who noticed that something strange happens to Iridia whenever she talks or even thinks about the Iridium flares and satellites. Huber Pom, our esteemed Launch Director, takes it one step further. Here’s a conversation that takes place between those two on a regular basis:

Huber: What’s up, Iridium?
Iridia: Have you just called me Iridium?
Huber: Sure! What’s up Iridium?

We’ll leave it at that.

Credits for the featured image: By Peter Nussbaumer – selbst fotografiert mit Canon EOS 5D, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link