Satellites

Satellites have been orbiting Earth [blank] the late 1950s when Sputnik 1 was launched. It soon became obvious that having telecommunication stations in low-Earth orbit would make long-distance communications much easier and so countries began launching [blank] own satellites in 1960s. Eventually, companies got involved, including the Iridium Communications corporation. Its founders came up with the idea [blank] a constellation of stations in orbit in 1990s. After the company struggled to find customers and eventually went bankrupt, the constellation [blank] still in operation today and its current owners are planning a new "generation" of satellites to replace the ageing fleet. Some of the new satellites, called "Iridium NEXT", have already been launched aboard SpaceX rockets and more will [blank] sent to space to orbits that will likely not produce as many flares as the older generation has.