title: Deep brain stimulation

text: Results of DBS in people with dystonia, where positive effects often appear gradually over a period of weeks to months, indicate a role of functional reorganization in at least some cases. The procedure has been tested for effectiveness in people with epilepsy that is resistant to medication. DBS may reduce or eliminate epileptic seizures with programmed or responsive stimulation.


title: Deep brain stimulation

text: DBS of the septal areas of persons with schizophrenia have resulted in enhanced alertness, cooperation, and euphoria. Persons with narcolepsy and complex-partial seizures also reported euphoria and sexual thoughts from self-elicited DBS of the septal nuclei.


title: Deep brain stimulation

text: Orgasmic ecstasy was reported with the electrical stimulation of the brain with depth electrodes in the left hippocampus at 3mA, and the right hippocampus at 1 mA.


title: Deep brain stimulation

text: In 2015, a group of Brazilian researchers led by neurosurgeon described a new technique that allows for simultaneous implants of electrodes called bilateral stereotactic procedure for DBS. The main benefits are less time spent on the procedure and greater accuracy.


title: Deep brain stimulation

text: In 2016, DBS was found to improve learning and memory in a mouse model of Rett syndrome. More recent (2018) work showed, that forniceal DBS upregulates genes involved in synaptic function, cell survival, and neurogenesis, making some first steps at explaining the restoration of hippocampal circuit function.


title: Deep brain stimulation

text: According to one long-term folluw-up study, DBS targeting the anterior nucleus of the thalamus may be somewhat more effective for temporal lobe epilepsy and efficacy may increase over time.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion (formerly Blitzkrieg and Megatherion) is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. Its name was inspired by the Celtic Frost album "To Mega Therion". "To Mega Therion" is Greek for "The Great Beast" and was a title used by occultist Aleister Crowley. Originally a death metal band, Therion adjusted its musical style by adding orchestral elements, including choirs, classical musicians, and even a full orchestra at their concert performances. As a result, they are considered pioneers of the symphonic metal genre.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion takes its themes for the lyrics from different mythologies and practices, including occultism, magic and ancient traditions and writings.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion originated as the band Blitzkrieg in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. In 1987, Christofer Johnsson, who had played bass for three months, teamed up with guitarist Peter Hansson, whom he had met in several musical groups, and drummer Oskar Forss, who was Johnsson's old schoolmate. The band's main influences were Metallica and Slayer, but its sound resembled Venom and Motörhead. The band had only two concerts. In March 1988, it split up after some disagreements with Forss.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 1988, the band reformed with the moniker Megatherion, which was based on the album title "To Mega Therion" by the Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost. Johnsson has mentioned that "therion" is Greek for "beast" and likens it to Belphegor. Johnsson switched from bass to guitar and Peter Hansson played guitar. Johan Hansson (who would later form the Swedish death metal band Crematory) became its bassist, and Mika Tovalainen its drummer. After the band shortened its name to "Therion", Erik Gustafsson of Dismember replaced Johan Hansson as the bassist, and Oskar Forss returned and replaced Tovalainen as the drummer. Matti Kärki, later to be the front man of Dismember, also joined the band and took over the vocals.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 1989, Therion released two demos: "Paroxysmal Holocaust" and "Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness". Matti had left the band shortly after the first demo, so Christofer took over the vocals again. In 1990, the band worked with House of Kicks, a local record store, to print and release the "Time Shall Tell" demo on 12 inch vinyl. The latest release enabled the band the sign a one-album record deal with Deaf Records.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion's first full-length album, "Of Darkness...", released in 1991, featured songs that Johnsson had composed in the 1980s. The band called it "both a debut album and the end of an era", and described it as progressive death metal, since it contained elements that did not quite fit the standards of death metal at the time. The lyrics were very political, in the vein of Napalm Death, Nuclear Assault and other late-1980s hardcore punk bands.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion signed with Active Records for its second album, "Beyond Sanctorum". Prior to the recording sessions, Gustafsson left the band to return to the United States, so Therion continued as a trio with Hansson, Forss and Johnsson, the last of whom covered the bass. The album shows a more experimental edge to the death metal music; keyboard and clean vocals were used sparingly.


title: Therion (band)

text: After the recording, Therion changed members again. Forss left the band, and Hansson had to quit for health issues. For the Central European gigs, Johnsson brought in drummer Piotr Wawrzeniuk from his other band Carbonized, bassist Andreas Wahl, and Magnus Barthelsson who was an old friend from school.


title: Therion (band)

text: In order to scale down operations, Active Records had stopped releasing new records and transferred the band to Megarock Records. They released "" in 1993. Its style combined death metal and doom metal, with elements of middle eastern music, industrial music, traditional 1980s heavy metal, classical music and religious chanting. "Symphony Masses" sold about 10,000 copies, which was more than the band's first two albums, but hardly a financial success. As the band's touring gigs were not that profitable, Barthelsson and Wahl quit the band, and Fredrik Isaksson was brought in as the new bassist. After a hiatus where Johnsson worked as a vocalist for Messiah, they received an offer to join metal label Nuclear Blast. Megarock Records, lacking the resources to properly promote the band, decided to release Therion without any strings attached. Therion signed with Nuclear Blast in 1994, and has remained with them since.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion's first album with Nuclear Blast was "Lepaca Kliffoth", with its single "The Beauty in Black" released in advance of the album. To Johnsson's surprise, "The Beauty in Black" sold 12,000 copies in Europe, before the company stopped printing. The album experimented with more elements: "a classic soprano and bass-baritone, more keyboards, more Persian influences, more melodies". Johnsson had "a new style of singing" that severed their ties to death metal. The album sold around 15,000 copies over the following weeks. Isaksson had some personal problems, and was eventually released from the band. Therion brought in bassist Lars Rosenberg from the death metal band Entombed. The band toured with Annihilator in Germany, and also did a small headlining tour in Argentina and Chile.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 1996, Therion recorded their experimental album, "Theli". The album heavily featured the vocals of two choirs, as well as vocals from Johnsson, Wawrzeniuk and guest vocalist Dan Swanö. The album featured keyboards and classic samples, which was labeled the "Barmbek Symphony Orchestra" after the subway station next to the studio. Jason Ankeny of Allmusic noted that the album "was almost universally acclaimed as the apex of Therion's career to date, fully realizing Johnsson's taste for elaborate, operatic grandeur". In a month, the album sold 75,000, more than double that of "Lepaca Kliffoth".


title: Therion (band)

text: Personal issues plagued the band's members. Jonas Mellberg, who had joined as a guitarist from Unanimated, had severe alcohol problems, and walked out during the mixing and mastering sessions. Wawrzeniuk was busy with his studies, so Johnsson brought in more members for their tours, including Tommy Eriksson of Shadowseeds. Rosenberg's drinking problems got worse and he was fired from the band.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 1997, Therion released "A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming", which contained unreleased songs from "Theli", some covers, and Johnsson's soundtrack that he produced for a short art movie called "The Golden Embrace".


title: Therion (band)

text: Johnsson noted that the next album, "Vovin", was practically a solo album as it used studio musicians instead of the ones from the "Theli" tour, besides Eriksson, who provided some guitar support. "Vovin" was recorded at Woodhouse Studios; it involved a real string orchestra for the first time, and a "hand picked opera choir" which included Austrian singer Martina Hornbacher, and British vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva. The album was released in 1998, and in two months, sales had reached 150,000 in Europe alone, doubling sales of "Theli".


title: Therion (band)

text: The band toured with Moonspell and showcased Hornbacher and Deva on vocals. It brought in Sami Karppinen as the drummer, Kristian Niemann on guitar, and his brother Johan Niemann on bass. The album "Crowning of Atlantis", released in 1999, was a mini-album that was padded to full-length with covers and live tracks.


title: Therion (band)

text: The band's next release, "Deggial", involved the participation of a full orchestra. Johnsson noted it was 90% another solo album, but with a more permanent band lineup. "Deggial" sold more copies than "Theli" but not as many as "Vovin".


title: Therion (band)

text: Johnsson had written seven songs but shelved them in order to make a Nordic concept album. He built a recording studio for the band called "Modern Art". The band's tenth album, "Secret of the Runes", was released in 2001, and had themes from the nine worlds of Norse mythology. It included the cover songs of "Crying Days" (Scorpions) and "Summer Night City" (ABBA), of which, Piotr Wawrzeniuk provided vocals. The album received positive reviews, and was an Allmusic editors' pick. Therion headlined tours in Europe and Latin America with Evergrey and My Insanity. Afterwards, Karppinen left the band to focus as a sound engineer for Modern Art, but brought in replacement drummer Richard Evensand.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 2001, Therion released the compilation album "Bells of Doom" to its official fan club. It includes recordings from the Blitzkrieg days in 1987, demos from 1989 that did not appear on any album, and an unofficial promotional demo from 1994 that enabled the band to land the record deal with Nuclear Blast. The album was later sold through Therion's webstore. In 2002, Therion released its first concert album "Live in Midgård", which contained recordings from its "Secret of the Runes" tour. Mostly drawing from its Budapest concert, the album was released to commemorate the band's 15th anniversary.


title: Therion (band)

text: After the "Secret of the Runes" tour, the band had amassed 55 unreleased songs which included the ones Johnsson had shelved as well as contributions from the Niemann brothers. Johnsson remarked that "we went through the songs and realized that we had enough good material for three albums. Recording one after the other, promoting, and touring each one separately would have taken several years and would have been a bad idea; and being so productive, we would have had another 55 songs waiting when we finally came to the end of it." In 2004, the band released 21 tracks on two albums: "Lemuria" and "Sirius B". The albums were released simultaneously and were available as separate albums or a twin-pack. 171 musicians participated, including the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and a 32-member choir. Contributing to lead vocals were Mats Levén and a returning Piotr Wawrzeniuk.


title: Therion (band)

text: In July 2005, the band released "Atlantis Lucid Dreaming", which is a compilation of the 1997 tracks that were not part of "The Golden Embrace" soundtrack (not including its Iron Maiden cover of "Children of the Damned"), and seven tracks from its 1999 album "Crowning of Atlantis". It included a bonus live version of "Black Sun".


title: Therion (band)

text: The band toured "Lemuria / Sirius B" over two years and 106 shows, with its final performance at the ProgPower Festival in Cheltenham, UK on 21 March 2006. The last gig marked Johnsson's final vocal stage performance.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion released their first DVD set, "Celebrators of Becoming", in May 2006. The set contains four DVDs which include concert footage from its 2004 visit to Mexico City, documentaries of its 2004–2006 World Tour, Johnsson's art movie "The Golden Embrace", the band's music video singles, bootlegs and commentaries, and two audio CDs from its Mexico City concert.


title: Therion (band)

text: In September 2006, Johnsson announced that recording was completed for a new album with 9 songs written by then drummer, Petter Karlsson. "Gothic Kabbalah" was released on 12 January 2007, and was followed with a tour through Europe, North and South America with Grave Digger and with support act Sabaton. Therion also toured Japan for the first time. The band's Warsaw gig was recorded for the live album and video set "Live Gothic", which was released in 2008.


title: Therion (band)

text: In these times Therion held live shows that included local symphonic orchestras and choirs. The "Therion Goes Classic" show took place on 9 December 2006, in Bucharest, Romania. Another show followed at the Miskolc Opera Festival in Miskolc, Hungary on 16 June 2007, with future band member Lori Lewis as its featured vocalist. The first half of the show featured orchestral pieces from Dvorak, Verdi, Mozart, Saint-Saens and Wagner. The second half pulled from Therion's repertoire. The song "Clavicula Nox" was featured as a full orchestral version in the first half. The Bucharest concert was broadcast on Romanian television, and its first part was later released together with the entire Miskolc concert as the DVD/CD box set "The Miskolc Experience" in June 2009.


title: Therion (band)

text: In November–December 2007, Therion had a 20-year anniversary tour with 16 shows in Europe. Songs included "Kali Yuga" parts 1 and 2, the entire "Theli" album, and "Adulruna Rediviva". Part of the set list was determined by fan voting. Some songs were accompanied by keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg and a belly dancer on stage, and some of the shows featured also the ex-singers Piotr Wawrzeniuk and Mats Levén. The Budapest gig of the tour was recorded, but it was released only in February 2014 as a part of the DVD "Adulruna Rediviva And Beyond".


title: Therion (band)

text: In 2008, the band announced that its core group of musicians would be parting ways, but Johnsson posted that he was in no way ending Therion. Johan Koleberg became the new drummer, and Nalle Påhlsson the bassist. The band did not tour that year, except for a single open-air festival show in Płock, Poland on 6 September.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 10 May 2009, following the release of "The Miskolc Experience", Therion announced Thomas Vikström as its new lead vocalist.


title: Therion (band)

text: The band worked on a new album, "Sitra Ahra", which featured new guitarist Christian Vidal, and Snowy Shaw on vocals.


title: Therion (band)

text: "Sitra Ahra" was released on 17 September 2010 The band toured South and Central America for 17 days, and European tour through November and December.


title: Therion (band)

text: In March 2011, "Gothic Kabbalah" singer Katarina Lilja left the band for a second time to "re-join the boring civil world and not be a cool rock star anymore". Thomas Vikström's daughter, Linnéa, provided supporting vocals for the band since the Bloodstock Open Air festival in 2011. Therion performed at Hellfest Summer Open Air, ProgPower USA, and the 2012 cruise liner based festival 70000 Tons of Metal. In a Bloodstock interview, Shaw mentioned that the band will work on new material at the end of the year. In September 2011, after four years of collaboration and session work, vocalist Lori Lewis joined Therion as a member. In this year also a board game called "011" was released; it features the band members and is based on the "Sitra Ahra" album.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 14 February 2012, Therion announced it was recording a studio album and had planned a 25th Anniversary Tour. "Les Fleurs du Mal" was released on September 28. The album is considered by Johnsson to be an "art project", which includes not only the music, but also special inlay graphics and video clips - in 2015 partly released on a limited edition DVD called "Garden Of Evil". The album consisted of covers of French chansons and pop songs that were performed in the band's style. On the release day the 25th Anniversary Tour was also started through Europe, also featuring the album's contributing keyboardist Stefan Jernståhl. Some leftover songs were released on an EP "Les Épaves" in the end of 2015.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 14 September, Johnsson posted a statement on the band's website about developing a rock metal opera, and that the band will not be doing any major tours or releasing studio albums. According to this, in 2013 the band was to play only at three minor summer festivals in Europe. In April 2013 this statement was reconsidered by Johnsson itself, and the Rock Opera Unveiled Tour was scheduled for December 2013 with 15 European gigs, to test the fans' acceptance of the new material. The main framework of these shows included excerpts from the future rock opera, and the entire Vovin album due to its 15th anniversary.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 21 February 2014 two new releases were put on market: a deluxe edition of "Theli" - including three bonus tracks from A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming and a DVD with Theli's live performance - and a DVD set "Adulruna Rediviva And Beyond" with the 2007 Anniversary concert in Budapest and the 2011 Atlanta show.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 2014 the Rock Opera unveiled tour has continued with a Latin American leg, which has also meant - "due to family and work related reasons" - the last live performances of Lori Lewis. However, she has remained a band member for studio performances. The new touring singer has become Sandra Laureano, debuting on the Summer festival gigs and the tour for the first time in China and through entire Russia in October 2014. The Russian leg of this tour was made upon the invitation of their 2013 tour support band Arkona, and drums were played by their former member Sami Karppinen, as Johan Koleberg was not able to tour with them.


title: Therion (band)

text: However, Sandra as a dramatic soprano did not suit for every song, so she was replaced first by coloratura Isa García Navas, and later Chiara Malvestiti to sing in the shows.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 2015 Johnsson worked on another side project, called Luciferian Light Orchestra which features songs in the '70s occult rock style. An eponymous album was also released in that year, accompanied by on-stage appearances as support of Therion's 2015 Latin American and 2016 European tours, featuring Vidal and Påhlsson (both of them masked) on guitar. In addition to the last two tours, Therion had the very first acoustic gigs in Latin America and on 3 July 2016 in Bucharest.


title: Therion (band)

text: CDs and DVDs related to the side projects were not released by Nuclear Blast, but by Johnsson's own label, Adulruna.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 13 November 2016 the band announced that Johan Koleberg had decided to leave the band "due to different goals in playing music". For the 2017 live gigs the former Amon Amarth member Fredrik Andersson filled in, then on 21 November 2017 Sami Karppinen officially re-joined.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 26 January, Johnsson revealed he had been suffering from intense pain in the neck and shoulders, and he was diagnosed with two spinal disc herniations (allegedly resulting from years of headbanging), and he was at risk of losing the ability to perform live. As a result, the rock opera project was delayed and the band downplayed their sets of songs in concerts to allow Johnsson to perform. By 8 April, Johnsson announced he had been able to avoid surgery as his condition had improved through physiotherapy, and the band would resume performing at festivals by August, although he would have to play sitting. (by the beginning of 2018, though, Johnsson was able to perform standing up normally again).


title: Therion (band)

text: Johnsson also arranged the orchestration of Sabaton's stage show with symphonic orchestra, performed on 13 July 2017 at the Masters Of Rock festival in Vizovice, Czech Republic.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 15 August 2017, the band announced the title and the release date of an operatic rock musical. "Beloved Antichrist" - inspired by and partly based on Vladimir Solovyov's "Tale of the Antichrist" - containing over 3 hours of music, and 29 vocal characters is to be scheduled for 26 January 2018, later postponed first to 2 February and finally to 9 February.


title: Therion (band)

text: In 2018 a European and a Latin American tour was scheduled, later also extended for China, and — for the very first time — Australia. The European tour has featured again Imperial Age, whose current album "Legacy Of Atlantis" was made with Vidal, Påhlsson and Thomas Vikström. After the last show of the tour, Linnéa Vikström left the band and she was replaced by the new touring member Rosalía Sairem. Due to health issues of Chiara Malvestiti some of the 2019 gigs were done again by Isa Garcia Navas.


title: Therion (band)

text: On 10 August 2019 Nalle Påhlsson has decided to withdraw from touring, and remain only a member for songwriting and studio recordings. For the year's only remaining show Justin Biggs from the band Sorcerer was standing in.


title: Therion (band)

text: The first "Leviathan" album was released on 22 January 2021, partly with Snowy Shaw on drums. A sequel, titled "Leviathan II", was released on 26 October 2022. The third and final installment album, "Leviathan III", is scheduled to be released in 2023.


title: Therion (band)

text: Therion draws its influences from several different bands. Its former name Megatherion comes from Celtic Frost's 1985 album "To Mega Therion" and much of its music prior to "Theli" was inspired by the 1987 album "Into the Pandemonium". For "Theli", the band drew from Pink Floyd's album "Atom Heart Mother" and progressive rock group Klaatu's album "Hope".


title: Therion (band)

text: From "Vovin" onwards, the band has drawn inspiration from classical composers like Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, heavy metal acts from the 1980s like Iron Maiden, Accept, 1970s hard rock bands such as Scorpions, Uriah Heep, Judas Priest, and "tons of progressive '70s bands that nobody knows anymore these days".


title: Therion (band)

text: The symbols on Therion's album covers originate from magick, occult, and Dragon Rouge themes. The most common symbol is an {11:5} hendecagram, an eleven-pointed star. First appearing on the 1993 album "", and every album since, it symbolizes the night side of the Qabalah, and has also been called the Star of Seth or the Star of Qliphoth. Johnsson admits that the symbol is important to his magick and lyrics.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol, is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that governs the unique customs and immigration issues at the border on the island of Ireland between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union, and on some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. shortly before the 2019 general election and concluded immediately after it, in December of that year. The withdrawal agreement as a whole, including the protocol, was ratified in January 2020. The Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border has had a special status since the thirty-year internecine conflict in Northern Ireland was ended by the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. As part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process, the border has been largely invisible, without any physical barrier or custom checks on its 270 crossing points; this arrangement was made possible by both countries' common membership of both the EU's Single Market and Customs Union and of their Common Travel Area.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: On the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the border in Ireland became the only land border between the UK and EU. EU single market and UK internal market provisions require certain customs checks and trade controls at their external borders. The Northern Ireland Protocol is intended to protect the EU single market, while avoiding imposition of a 'hard border' that might incite a recurrence of conflict and destabilise the relative peace that has held since the end of "the Troubles".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Under the Protocol, Northern Ireland is formally outside the EU single market, but EU free movement of goods rules and EU Customs Union rules still apply; this ensures there are no customs checks or controls between Northern Ireland and the rest of the island. Goods from Northern Ireland may be moved without restriction to Great Britain but not conversely. Thus, in place of an Ireland/Northern Ireland land border, the protocol has created a "de facto" customs border in the Irish Sea, separating Northern Ireland from Great Britain, to the disquiet of prominent Unionists.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Under the terms of Article 18, the Northern Ireland Assembly has the power (after 31 December 2024) to decide whether to terminate or continue the protocol arrangements. "The Withdrawal Agreement doesn’t state how Northern Ireland should give consent [to continue] – it is for the UK to determine how that decision is made" but the UK Government has already declared that the decision will be made by a simple majority of Assembly members. In the event that consent is not given, the arrangements would cease to apply two years thereafter. The Joint Committee would make alternative proposals to the UK and EU to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. If consent is given, then the question may be put again after a further four years. At the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, parties favouring continuance of the protocol won 53 of the 90 seats.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In June 2022, the Government introduced a Northern Ireland Protocol Bill that would unilaterally disapply parts of the Protocol if enacted.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In 1921, the western and southern four-fifths of the island of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as the Irish Free State (renamed in 1937 as "Ireland" () and "described" in 1948 as the Republic of Ireland). The north-eastern fifth, renamed Northern Ireland, remained part of the United Kingdom, which became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The "province" (as Northern Ireland is often known) had suffered sectarian tensions and at times outbreaks of serious violence between Unionists, who wish to remain part of the UK and trace their origin to the Plantation of Ulster, and Nationalists, who seek a united Ireland. The most recent of these, known as 'the Troubles', occurred during the period from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. One of its features was that the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border was heavily fortified and militarised. In 1998, the Belfast Agreement/ Good Friday Agreement brought the conflict to an end and the border was demilitarised. Since both states were members of the European Union at the time and operate a Common Travel Area, there was no other border infrastructure.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In the Brexit referendum of 2016, nearly 56% of Northern Irish voters opted to remain in the EU, though the overall UK-wide vote was 52% to leave. A subsequent study suggests that leave was supported by a majority of unionists (66%), while remain was supported by a majority of nationalists (88%) and by those who did not identify as unionist or nationalist (70%).


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Following the Brexit referendum, the first May government decided that not only should the United Kingdom leave the European Union but also that it should leave the European Union Customs Union and the European Single Market. This meant that a customs and regulatory border would arise between the UK and the EU. Whilst the sea border between Great Britain and continental Europe was expected to present manageable challenges, the UK/EU border in Ireland was recognised as having rather more intractable issues. These were summarised in what became known as the Brexit Trilemma, because of three competing objectives: no hard border on the island; no customs border in the Irish Sea; and no British participation in the European Single Market and the European Union Customs Union. It is not possible to have all three.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The Protocol replaced the Irish backstop, the rejected first attempt to resolve the trilemma. The "backstop" (also formally called the Northern Ireland Protocol) was an appendix to a draft Brexit withdrawal agreement developed by the May government and the European Commission in December 2017 and finalised in November 2018. This proposal provided for the UK as a whole to have a common customs territory with the EU until a solution was delivered that would avoid the need for evident customs controls at the UK/EU border in Ireland and also avoid any customs controls within the UK (between Northern Ireland and Great Britain). The "backstop" element was that the arrangement would have continued to apply potentially indefinitely unless the UK and the EU were jointly to agree on a different arrangement for the border in Ireland.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The backstop would have required keeping Northern Ireland in some aspects of the European Single Market.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The Irish government, Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the cross-community Alliance Party and Green Party supported the backstop proposal, whereas the DUP, UUP and TUV were opposed. By early 2019, the Westminster Parliament had voted three times against ratifying this version of Withdrawal Agreement and thus also rejected the backstop.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: After becoming Prime Minister on 24 July 2019, Boris Johnson sought to remove the backstop; this was refused by the EU, who wanted a legally operational solution. On 2 October, Johnson presented a potential replacement for the 2018 Irish backstop, proposing that Northern Ireland stay aligned with the EU on product standards but remain in the UK customs territory. This would necessitate product checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but no customs checks for goods expected to stay within the UK. For the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, his proposal would entail customs checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic, which would be potentially assisted by unspecified technology implemented distantly from the border, but no product and safety standard checks within the island of Ireland. This was rejected by the EU.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: On 10 October 2019, Johnson and the Irish (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar held "very positive and very promising" talks that led to a resumption in negotiations, and a week later, on 17 October, Johnson and Jean-Claude Juncker announced that they had reached agreement (subject to ratification) on a new Withdrawal Agreement which replaced the backstop with a new protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In the formally negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, the 'Irish backstop' was removed, and replaced by this new protocol. The whole of the UK would leave the EU Customs Union as a single customs territory with Northern Ireland included in any future British trade agreements, but that Northern Ireland would adopt EU Single Market regulations on goods and thus remain an entry point into the EU Customs Union. Doing so would prevent a "hard border" on the island of Ireland. The Protocol includes some protections for human rights and equality measures in its Article 2 and specific EU anti-discrimination measures are listed in Annex 1.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: This new protocol has been dubbed by some as "Chequers for Northern Ireland", due to its similarity with the UK-wide Chequers future relationship plan proposed by Theresa May, which had previously been rejected by the EU and denounced by Johnson.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: During the 2019 election campaign, a leaked HM Treasury analysis explained some of the implications of the protocol. The undated paper said Northern Ireland would be cut off from whole swathes of the UK Internal Market, would face shortages and prices rises in shops and would effectively be severed from the UK's economic union. Asked about the report at press conference, Prime Minister Johnson said "there will be no checks on goods going from GB to NI, and from NI to GB".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Rather than being a fallback position as the backstop was intended to be, the protocol specifies the arrangements for Northern Ireland for at least the first four years beginning January 2021. Its status thereafter is subject to continued democratic consent in Northern Ireland to the continuance of Articles 5 to 10. specifies that it is a matter for the British government to determine how this consent is determined: it has declared that it is to be decided by a simple majority of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 1 of the protocol establishes that it is without prejudice to the provisions in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement) relating to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and the consent principle. The 1998 Agreement specifies that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and that this position will not change without the consent of a majority in Northern Ireland voting in a referendum.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 2 of the protocol provides that the UK's exit from the EU shall not cause any diminution in the rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity in the 1998 Belfast Agreement (Good Friday Agreement). The provision also protects specific EU anti-discrimination measures found in Annex 1 to the protocol. In this Article, the UK also agrees to facilitate the work of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the joint committee of the island's two human rights commissions.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 3 recognises the right of the United Kingdom and Ireland to continue the Common Travel Area, their bilateral agreement on free movement of British and Irish citizens between their jurisdictions.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 4 affirms that Northern Ireland is and remains part of the customs territory of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is thus part of any future UK trade deals and nothing in the Protocol inhibits any agreement that allows exports from Northern Ireland on the same basis as those from Great Britain.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 5 deals with customs duties. No such duties apply to movement of goods (in either direction) between Northern Ireland and Great Britain unless the goods are intended (or at risk of) onward transfer to the Union. EU tariffs from third countries collected by the UK on behalf of the EU, would be levied on the goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland that are "at risk" of then being transported into and sold in the Republic of Ireland; if they ultimately aren't, then firms in Northern Ireland can claim rebates on goods where the UK had lower tariffs than the EU. The joint committee will decide which goods are deemed "at risk".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The effect of these articles is that there is a "de jure" customs border on the island of Ireland between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but a "de facto" customs border down the Irish Sea.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 6 affirms that goods from Northern Ireland shall have unfettered access to the rest of the UK internal market. "The Joint Committee shall keep the application of this paragraph under constant review and shall adopt appropriate recommendations with a view to avoiding controls at the ports and airports of Northern Ireland to the extent possible."


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 7 states that it is UK law that applies to goods offered for sale in Northern Ireland, except in respect of veterinary certificates or official labels for plant reproductive material.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 8 says that some provisions of the EU law on VAT and excise duties apply in Northern Ireland but are collected and retained by the UK.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 10 of the Protocol deals with state aid, popularly known as the level playing field provision (which is covered more generally in Article 93 of the overall Withdrawal Agreement). The provisions of various EU laws apply to the United Kingdom as a whole, including state support for the production of and trade in agricultural products in Northern Ireland, "in respect of measures which affect that trade between Northern Ireland and the Union which is subject to this Protocol".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 11 states that the "Protocol shall be implemented and applied so as to maintain the necessary conditions for continued North-South cooperation" in a variety of areas.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 12 affirms that the UK is "responsible for implementing and applying the provisions of Union law made applicable by this Protocol to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland" and that EU representatives have the right to be present when it does so. The Article requires both sides to exchange information on a monthly basis.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: This article also states that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has jurisdiction over interpretation of applicable EU laws (those listed in Article 19).


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: This article is primarily concerned with interpretation of terms. As the protocol provides for application of EU-law in many areas there is a role for the European Court of Justice with regards to procedures in case of non-compliance as well as the possibility and requirement for UK courts to ask for preliminary rulings on the application of EU law and related parts of the protocol.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 16 states that "if the application of this Protocol leads to serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade, the Union or the United Kingdom may unilaterally take appropriate safeguard measures. Such safeguard measures shall be restricted with regard to their scope and duration to what is strictly necessary in order to remedy the situation. Priority shall be given to such measures as will least disturb the functioning of this Protocol."


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 18 of the Protocol defines a mechanism by which members of the Northern Ireland Assembly can declare their consent to the continued operation of the Protocol or bring to an end Articles 510, as determined by simple majority of those voting. The first consent vote is scheduled for December 2024. If members vote against continuing with these arrangements, then there will be a two-year period for the UK and EU to agree to new arrangements, with recommendations made by a joint UK-EU committee. If the Assembly supports the continuance of Articles 5–10 with a majority vote, the provisions will continue for a further four years before another vote is taken; if the Assembly supports their operation on a cross-community basis, the articles will continue for eight years.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Annexes 1 to 7 form an integral part of this Protocol. Annexes 1 to 5 list the EU laws referenced in the earlier Articles. Annex 6 and 7 give the procedures referenced in Articles 10 and 16. Among other matters, this article requires that goods placed on the market in Northern Ireland must carry CE marking; they may also carry UKCA marking and/or UKNI marking.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Unionist reaction to the Protocol was uniformly negative. In October 2020, the "de facto" border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland bore criticism from Lord Empey, the Ulster Unionist Party's chief negotiator during the Good Friday Agreement and former Stormont minister. He described a border on the Irish Sea as "the most significant change that has taken place since partition" and that "Northern Ireland's centre of gravity could gradually move in a Dublin/Brussels direction. This cannot be without constitutional consequences." In February 2021, then DUP leader Arlene Foster objected to its implicit "red line down the Irish Sea", contrary to the Prime Minister Johnson's assurances.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Anger over the protocol has contributed to rising tensions in the Unionist community which led to street violence in the loyalist Sandy Row district of Belfast on 2 April 2021. Up to 300 people were involved in disorder, 15 police officers were injured and there were 8 arrests. Eight prominent unionists who negotiated the 1998 Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement), including David Trimble, called in May 2021 for the suspension of the Northern Ireland Protocol.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In September 2021, the four Unionist parties (DUP, PUP, TUV and UUP) released a joint declaration affirming their "opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol, its mechanisms and structures" and reaffirmed their "unalterable position that the protocol must be rejected and replaced by arrangements which fully respect Northern Ireland's position as a constituent and integral part of the United Kingdom." However the parties declined to form an electoral pact that might maximise the number of anti-protocol MLAs to vote on continuance of the protocol as provided for in Article 18.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In January 2021, Northern Ireland-born former Labour MP and Brexit campaigner Kate Hoey criticised the British government for erecting a trade border "down the Irish Sea" in other words, between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. She stated that in order to prevent a 'hard border' on the island of Ireland, customs and other controls have instead been imposed on goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland; and that Northern Ireland remains for many purposes in the EU Single Market and Customs Union, subject to a regulatory regime into which it has no input.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In September 2020, the two main nationalist parties (Sinn Féin and the SDLP) and the two main cross-community parties (the Alliance Party and the Green Party) expressed support for the Protocol and called for its 'rigorous implementation'. Alliance Party leader and Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long said there was a need for "pragmatic solutions" to protocol matters rather than for "people to escalate this into a constitutional crisis".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In September 2020, the British government drew up legislation that would give ministers the power to define what state aid needs to be reported to the EU and what products that are at risk of being brought into Ireland from Northern Ireland, which it defended as clarifying ambiguity in the protocol. Before publication Ursula von der Leyen said that this could break international law and in answer to a question in the House of Commons the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis said that the government's planned Internal Market Bill would "break international law" in a "specific and limited way", by introducing new powers to circumvent certain treaty obligations to the EU as set out in the withdrawal agreement. The draft provision led to the resignation of a senior Government lawyer and the Advocate General for Scotland.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: These clauses were criticised by Sinn Féin and Taoiseach Micheál Martin said "trust has been eroded". In October, the European Commission started an infringement procedure, and in December the EU-UK Joint Committee reached an agreement on practical aspects which allowed the UK Government to remove the controversial clauses before the bill became law.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: An opinion poll ('Testing the Temperature') commissioned by Queen's University Belfast and carried out 24–28 March 2021, asked if the Protocol is on balance ‘a good thing’ for Northern Ireland. 44% of those questioned disagreed, 43% agreed and 9% had a neutral opinion.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In a second poll, commissioned by BBC Spotlight and carried out 5–7 April 2021, 48% of those polled wanted the Protocol to be scrapped and 46% said it should be retained.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In a poll commissioned by the "Belfast Telegraph" and carried out between 14 and 17 May 2021, 59% of those polled were worried about the prospect of violence related to the protocol over Summer 2021.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Queen's University repeated their March poll between 11 and 14 June 2021. 48% (+4%) of those polled thought that the Protocol was on balance bad for Northern Ireland and 43% (=) thought it was on balance good. When asked if the Protocol was an 'appropriate means for managing the effects of Brexit on Northern Ireland', the response split with 47% agreeing and 47% disagreeing.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In October 2021 Queen's University published a third edition of their Testing the Temperature report. In the third report the percentage of respondents who believe the Protocol provides an appropriate means of managing the effects of Brexit has increased to 53% (42% disagreeing), while 52% believe that on balance the Protocol is a good thing for Northern Ireland (41% disagreeing). Respondents see negative features of the Protocol with 59% believing it has impacted negatively on political stability.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: A survey of 1000 participants in October 2021 by Social Market Research for the University of Liverpool found the protocol to be the fourth most significant issue for respondents with about 10% putting it as their first or second concern; 55% (v 24%) found the EU's compromise proposals acceptable (as did a majority of DUP voters).


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In June 2021, the High Court of Northern Ireland in Belfast ruled against an application ("In re Jim Allister and others (EU Exit)") brought by several Unionist and pro-Brexit politicians to have the Protocol declared unlawful on several grounds, including that it is in conflict with the Acts of Union 1800 and thus unconstitutional. The Court ruled that the Protocol indeed runs counter to the free trade provisions of the Acts (Article VI), but the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 also has constitutional effect and had implicitly repealed that aspect of the Acts of Union. The court also rejected arguments based on the Northern Ireland Act, the European Convention on Human Rights and European Union law. Likewise, the court rejected a challenge to the Regulations, which provided that the consent mechanism in the Protocol was not to be subject to the cross-community voting rules in the Assembly. In November 2021, not content with the decision of the High Court, the applicants appealed.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal, but the case reached the Supreme Court in late autumn 2022 under the lead name of convicted loyalist Clifford Peeples ("In the matter of an Application by Clifford Peeples for a Judicial Review (Appellant) (Northern Ireland)".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: At the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2022, parties (Alliance, SDLP, Sinn Féin) that accepted the protocol as mitigating some of the adverse effects of Brexit (which Northern Ireland had voted against), won 52 of the 90 seats in the Assembly. Parties opposed to the principle of a distinct arrangement for Northern Ireland (the DUP, TUV and two Independent Unionists) secured 28 seats. The UUP, which secured nine seats, although opposed to the protocol as it stands, it would accept it given significant changes. Even with the UUP opposed, this suggests a 5337 vote in favour of continuance, but this still means that neither Brexit nor the protocol has cross-community support.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: On 13 June 2022, the Government introduced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (that seeks to unilaterally override parts of the Protocol), giving the dissatisfaction of the DUP as its reason to do so. In response, 52 of the 90 Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly signed a strongly-worded letter informing the Prime Minister that the proposed Bill would be contrary to the wishes of the majority of people in Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party (25 MLAs) welcomed the Bill. However Sammy Wilson MP, a leading member of the party, said that the DUP would not participate in Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive unless and until the Bill is enacted and brought into force. ( , the Assembly is in abeyance because the DUP has declined to take up the post of Deputy First Minister, citing the Protocol as its reason for this decision. The executive cannot operate without cross-community support.)


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: According to the UK's implementation plan (July 2020), a system for checks on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland will need three types of electronic paperwork, as detailed in an eleven-page document.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: On 17 December 2020, the Joint Committee (led by Gove and Šefčovič) agreed a set of documents to give practical effect to the agreement.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: To operate the terms of the protocol, the United Kingdom must provide border control posts at Northern Ireland's ports: actual provision of these facilities is the responsibility of Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). Temporary buildings were put in place for 1 January 2021, but in February 2021, the responsible Northern Ireland minister, Gordon Lyons (DUP), ordered officials to stop work on new permanent facilities and to stop recruiting staff for them.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Despite an instruction by the UK Environment Secretary (George Eustice), DAERA Minister Edwin Poots (DUP) (who had taken over the portfolio from Gordon Lyons) continued to resist doing so. In April 2021, the permanent secretary of the DAERA told a Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly on 15 April 2021 that the permanent border control posts were not expected to be built before 2023, subject to the agreement of the Northern Ireland Executive. He added that the 'business case' would not be ready before October 2021, despite the fact that contractors had already been engaged. Northern Ireland's Chief Veterinary Officer told the committee meeting that only a quarter of the checks required on goods entering the single market were being carried out at the temporary posts.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In its half yearly financial report 26 August 2021, Irish Continental Group, which operates ferries between Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland, expressed concern at the lack of implementation of checks on goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, as required under the protocol. The company said that the continued absence of these checks (on goods destined for the Republic of Ireland) is causing a distortion in the level playing field, since goods that arrive directly into Republic of Ireland ports from Great Britain are checked on arrival.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In a report published 28 January 2022, EU inspectors declared that the system of checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland did not comply with EU rules and was "not fit for purpose". They said that the UK government has "failed to ensure that sufficient resources have been made available to the responsible competent authorities in Northern Ireland". In April 2022 it was reported that EU member states were concerned that "a grey zone of unregulated goods entering the EU via Northern Ireland is developing".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The agreement provided for a delay of three months (ending 31 March 2021) to allow retailers, wholesales and logistics operations time to adjust to the new arrangements for goods movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The UK government asked through the Joint Committee structures for an extension of two years on these checks, claiming to anticipate severe difficulties with food supply in Northern Ireland. On 3 March 2021, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland informed the UK Parliament of the Government's intention to instead unilaterally extend the grace period post-Brexit checks for a shorter six-month period. Following this announcement, the EU threatened legal action claiming the action was outside the Protocol process and was the second time the UK had sought to breach international law in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol, an action backed by Simon Coveney, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs. On 9 April 2021 Bloomberg claimed that the EU is set to postpone the threatened legal action against the United Kingdom as a result of tensions in Northern Ireland. The EU announced 27 July 2021 that it was pausing its legal action against the United Kingdom to "buy time and space to consider the changes to the protocol sought by the UK".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The European Parliament, which had yet to ratify the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, postponed making a decision pending a resolution to the proposed infringement. It was announced 28 April 2021 that the agreement had been ratified.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Northern Ireland's Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots announced 1 June 2021 a unilateral delay to the introduction of checks on pets moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Checks were to be introduced on 1 July 2021 under the terms of the Protocol but are now delayed until 'at least' October.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Under the terms of the Protocol, chilled meat products from Great Britain such as sausages were due to be banned from Northern Ireland after 1 July 2021. On 17 June 2021 the British Government requested an extension of the grace period on chilled meats until 30 September. The EU agreed to the three-month extension 30 June 2021.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: The UK government unilaterally announced an indefinite extension of all grace periods 6 September 2021 to allow time for further discussions. The European Commission issued a statement that it 'took note' of the UK announcement, but did not threaten any legal action.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: On 4 October 2021, the UK government issued a veiled threat to disavow the Northern Ireland protocol, warning that it "cannot wait for ever" for the EU to respond to its demands to rewrite the Protocol. The Brexit minister, David Frost stated that the EU must come back with 'ambitious' proposals to renegotiate the protocol. On 7 October, the EU responded, urging the UK to drop the "political rhetoric", saying that they would make "far-reaching proposals" to break the impasse. The main point of contention for the UK is the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) responsibility to adjudicate on disputes that arise from interpretation of EU law (where the protocol applies them to Northern Ireland). In a speech at the British Embassy in Lisbon on 12 October, in advance of publication of the commission's latest proposals, Frost declared his view that the Protocol was "not working", was "shredding the Good Friday Agreement", and was becoming "the biggest source of mistrust between us". On the same day, the "Irish Times" described the sides as "at loggerheads". On 6 November 2021, The Independent reported that talks between Frost and Šefčovič had ended "in deadlock" and that the European Commission had warned of "serious consequences" for the UK should it trigger Article 16.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Talks were suspended on 18 December 2021, to resume in January 2022. The UK side had let it be known (but subsequently denied) that it was willing to defer indefinitely its desire to remove the CJEU clauses. The EU side announced that it had decided to change EU law such to waive a range of formalities on medicines and ensure "that everyone in Northern Ireland has access to the same medicines, at the same time, as in the rest of the United Kingdom". On 18 December, Lord Frost announced his resignation as the UK's Brexit minister, citing a number of libertarian concerns over the Government's domestic policies.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Article 16 of the protocol is a safeguard clause within the Northern Ireland Protocol that allows either party to take unilateral "strictly necessary" measures if applying the protocol "leads to serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade". The other party can then take "strictly necessary" proportionate rebalancing measures. Article 16 says that priority should be given to measures and rebalancing measures that 'least disturb the functioning' of the Protocol. There is further elaboration of this article 16 in Annex 7 of the Northern Ireland Protocol. This annex says that these unilateral measures may (except for exceptional circumstances) only be applied one month or more after notifying the other party about them.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: Northern Ireland receives a large proportion of its food and other imports from Great Britain and there have been complaints that strict application of the restrictions under the Northern Ireland Protocol either already have created artificial shortages in Northern Ireland or that they have the potential for creating greater shortages in the future.


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: On 13 January 2021 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson first suggested the possibility of invoking Article 16 of the Protocol when answering a question in Parliament from a DUP MP, and promised to invoke Article 16 in answer to another DUP MP on 3 February to "ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea".


title: Northern Ireland Protocol

text: In January 2021, the Von der Leyen Commission was in a dispute with AstraZeneca on the contractual details of the latter's COVID-19 vaccine and whether it was providing its "best efforts" to supply the EU with its product. On 29 January, the Commission published an export transparency mechanism to gain oversight of the movement of vaccines. This included reference to the possible use of Article 16 in introducing export controls, to prevent supplies of vaccine intended for the Republic of Ireland moving to Britain via Northern Ireland. This move was criticised in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the UK, with Northern Ireland's first minister Arlene Foster calling it "an absolutely incredible act of hostility". The Commission reversed its proposal a few hours later. The Spanish foreign minister said the [proposed] use of Article 16 was an "accident" and "mishap" that had been resolved.


title: Jennifer Crystal Foley

text: Jennifer Crystal Foley (born Jennifer Amie Crystal; January 26, 1973) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Christie Parker in "Once and Again" and Rachel Taub on "House".


title: Jennifer Crystal Foley

text: Foley was born on January 26, 1973 in Los Angeles, California. She is the eldest daughter and first child of Janice (née Goldfinger) and actor Billy Crystal. She has a younger sister, Lindsay Crystal, a producer. In 1994, Foley graduated from Northwestern University.


title: Jennifer Crystal Foley

text: She married her college boyfriend, Michael Foley, in September 2000. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: The Chevrolet Avalanche is a four-door, five or six-passenger pickup truck sharing GM's long-wheelbase chassis used on the Chevrolet Suburban and Cadillac Escalade EXT. Breaking with a long-standing tradition, the Avalanche was unavailable as a GMC, but only as a Chevrolet. Production of the Avalanche started in July 2001 and ended April 2013, producing two generations in its lifespan.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: The Avalanche was launched in September 2001 as a 2002 model on the GMT800 platform. First year Avalanches featured light gray plastic body cladding, intended to provide visual distinction from the Suburban/Yukon XL. Avalanche also gave the public an advance look at the next generation of front fascia designs for the entire GM line. A full-length chrome strip splits each lamp assembly and the grille, with a gold Chevrolet "bow tie" in the center. The hood and fenders featured aggressive folds, in contrast to the soft box of the other GMT800 models.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: 2003 models featured a darker cladding, but GM's new president, Rick Wagoner, demanded the removal of this "unpopular" trim (as did certain elements of the public). From mid-year, Avalanche could be ordered without the cladding. The uncladded model, known as the Without Body Hardware (or better by its initialism "WBH"), and alternatively called "slicksides" by GM marketers, resembles the '03-'05 Silverado in the front.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: Avalanche was nominated for the "North American SUV of the Year" award and was "Motor Trend" magazine's Truck of the Year for 2002.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: The Avalanche was originally marketed as being able to "change from an SUV to a super SUV". This was made possible by a plastic cover and an exclusive "midgate", called the Convert-a-Cab system by GM, which could open and close. The midgate was a divider behind the second row of seats that could be folded down, with the seats, to create a longer bed area, or folded up to make a larger cab area. A similar midgate was found on the Cadillac Escalade EXT, Hummer H2 SUT and the GMC Envoy XUV.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: For those who planned to go off-road in their Avalanche, a Z71 Off-Road package was available that added off-road suspension, GM's AutoTrac full-time, push-button four-wheel-drive system, all-terrain P265/70R17 white-lettered Goodyear tires, seventeen-inch alloy wheels, leather seating surfaces with waterproof accents, front dual power bucket seats, cloth door panel inserts, GM's OnStar telematics system, all-weather rubber floor mats, Chevrolet bowtie emblems embedded into the backrests of the seats (for 2002 models), dual-zone automatic climate controls with rear HVAC vents and remote controls, remote radio controls with headphone jacks for two pairs of headphones, a security system, gray-finished side running boards, power-adjustable, heated, side view mirrors, SRS side impact airbags, and more. Aside from these details, a Z71 Off-Road decal on the rear side panels identified an Avalanche equipped with this package. Full leather seating surfaces were an available option, also removing the cloth door panel inserts, and also added heated front seats.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: For those who liked the styling of the Z71 Off-Road package but did not plan to take their Avalanche off-road, a Z66 Premium On-Road package was also available. The Z66 On-Road package featured all the equipment that the Z71 Off-Road package offered but replaced the off-road suspension with sport on-road suspension and did not offer four-wheel-drive. Aside from these details, a Z66 On-Road sticker on the rear side panels identified an Avalanche equipped with this package. As with the Z71 Off-Road package, full leather seating surfaces without the cloth accents were an available option, also removing the cloth door panel inserts, and also added heated front seats.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: To further distinguish it from its Silverado siblings, the Avalanche was practically fully equipped and only came with bodyside cladding. The Avalanche included features such as 16-inch alloy wheels and tires (chromed steel on the 2500 model), an AM/FM stereo with single-disc CD player and six speakers, cloth seating surfaces, front bench seat with power front driver's seat, power windows, power door locks, keyless entry, full instrumentation, dual front airbags, and air conditioning. Options included OnStar telematics system, cassette player, leather seating surfaces, front dual power bucket seats that could be heated, and side airbags for the front seats. A North Face Edition, in partnership with the North Face brand included limited exterior color options, a unique Ebony/Green leather interior, special exterior ornamentation and decals, white-faced gauges, OnStar telematics system, specially colored door panel inserts and speaker grilles, and more.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: For 2003, the Avalanche was slightly changed. A new interior, shared with the Chevrolet Tahoe and Chevrolet Suburban, added a new, larger steering wheel with subsequent audio system and OnStar controls and cruise and speed controls, an optional six-speaker premium Bose sound system with external amplifier, a new gauge cluster with information center, memory for the front driver's seat, brake and accelerator pedals and side view mirror position (on some models), new radio head units, which included an AM/FM stereo with single-disc CD/MP3 player and Radio Data System or an AM/FM stereo with six-disc CD/MP3 changer and Radio Data System, optional XM Satellite Radio, standard OnStar telematics system, optional rear audio controls with headphone jacks, an optional rear DVD entertainment system by Panasonic with wireless headphones, new warning chimes that played through the vehicle's audio system instead of through a separate speaker behind the dashboard, and newly available 17-inch alloy wheels and tires.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: Soon after the release of the Chevrolet Avalanche, customers began to notice cosmetic problems with the cladding on their vehicles. Over time exposure to heat and sunlight would cause a chalky faded appearance. It was especially noticeable on the cargo bed panels, and sail-panel windows where "Zebra Striping" would appear. Customer reaction to this problem resulted in General Motors agreeing to a one-time treatment of a product called ArmorDillo. This product would temporarily restore the cladding for a period of about 6 months. After that it would wear off then need to be re-applied. Realizing this was not a permanent solution, GM, together with Gatorback Coatings, developed a coating that could be applied to the cladding to restore it to a like-new shine. This product was designed to etch into the plastic and bond a new layer of tinted acrylic over the faded plastic. Customers within the 3yr/36,000 original factory warranty could go to their dealership to have it restored under their original warranty under GM TSB:04-08-111-001C. General Motors did not use side body cladding on the second generation model. General Motors has also identified the original source of the faded cladding.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: The GMT900 Avalanche was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in February 2006. Production of the redesigned Avalanche began at the Silao Assembly in April 2006. The Avalanche maintained the styled front end much like its sister vehicles, the Tahoe/Yukon and Suburban/Yukon XL, yet it still had the distinct midgate and integrated bed as found on the previous incarnation. It had all the same standard and available features as the Suburban and the Tahoe. The 2500 model of the previous generation was discontinued.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: A special Z71 package was offered for the second-generation Avalanche, available on the LT trim with either the 2LT or 3LT option groups. This off-road package consisted of a suspension tuned for rough terrain, an exclusive automatic locking rear differential, aluminum under body skid plates (visible from the front of the pickup truck), wheel flares, badges, wheels and tires.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: Later models introduced another version of the Vortec 5.3-liter V8 as the engine is now capable of running on E85 ethanol. When the 5.3 is running on normal gasoline, it produces and of torque whereas its output rises to and of torque on E85, up from and in 2009.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: A 2007 Avalanche was given away to the Most Valuable Player of the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Michael Young.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: For the 2009 model year, a Bluetooth hands-free phone system was added to all Avalanche models, and was integrated with the vehicle's OnStar telematics system, and the 4L60-E four-speed automatic transmission was replaced with a more modern 6L80-E unit for both engines.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: Following the 2009 model year, the 6.0L V8 engine option was dropped from the Avalanche lineup (in addition to being discontinued from the related Chevrolet Suburban 1500 and Chevrolet Tahoe), leaving the standard 5.3L V8 as the Avalanche's sole engine option.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: The LS served as the base model Avalanche. It included 17-inch alloy wheels and tires, cloth seating surfaces, power front driver's bucket seat, OnStar telematics system, an AM/FM stereo with single-disc CD/MP3 player and auxiliary audio input jack with six speakers, keyless entry, and black door handles, tailgate handle, and side mirrors, aluminum interior trim, front and side airbags, traction control, StabiliTrak, and more. A Bluetooth hands-free phone system was added starting with the 2009 model year.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: The LT served as the mid-level model Avalanche. It added power dual front bucket seats, remote start, XM Satellite Radio, Bluetooth hands-free telephone system, and exterior color-keyed door handles, tailgate handle, and side mirrors, wood interior trim, as well as other features. Later models also included leather seating surfaces with heated front seats and a Bose premium audio system with an amplifier and subwoofer. A Bluetooth hands-free phone system was added starting with the 2009 model year.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: The LTZ was the top-of-the-line model Avalanche. It added leather seating surfaces, security alarm, an AM/FM stereo with six-disc CD/MP3/DVD changer, an eight-speaker premium Bose CenterPoint amplified surround sound system, memory for the front driver's seat, 20-inch polished alloy wheels and tires, and rear seat audio and video system controls, and the LTZ exclusive self-leveling Auto Ride suspension. Later models also included a touchscreen GPS navigation system with SiriusXM Travel Link Services and a rear backup camera system. A Bluetooth hands-free phone system was added starting with the 2009 model year.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: For the 2013 model year, all three trim levels of the Avalanche were sold as special-edition Black Diamond Edition models to commemorate the final year of production. While options and packages were virtually unchanged from the 2012 model year, all 2013 Avalanches received special 'Black Diamond Edition' badging on the rear pillars and rear tailgate, and buyers also received a personalized coffee table book shipped to them after purchase that included a copy of their Avalanche's window sticker, as well as a letter from Chevrolet congratulating them on their purchase. The book included information about the development of the original 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche, as well as "behind-the-scenes" photos from Silao Assembly showing the Avalanche being assembled, and Avalanche owner photos of their trucks.


title: Chevrolet Avalanche

text: Production of the Avalanche ended after the 2013 model year, after 2011 saw a sales decline of 2.6% to 20,088 vehicles. Production of the Cadillac Escalade EXT also ended after the 2013 model year.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The Iridium satellite constellation provides L band voice and data information coverage to satellite phones, pagers and integrated transceivers over the entire surface of Earth. Iridium Communications owns and operates the constellation, additionally selling equipment and access to its services. It was conceived by Bary Bertiger, Raymond J. Leopold and Ken Peterson in late 1987 (in 1988 protected by patents Motorola filed in their names) and then developed by Motorola on a fixed-price contract from July 29, 1993, to November 1, 1998, when the system became operational and commercially available.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The constellation consists of 66 active satellites in orbit, required for global coverage, and additional spare satellites to serve in case of failure. Satellites are placed in low Earth orbit at a height of approximately and inclination of 86.4°. The nearly polar orbit and communication between satellites via Ka band inter-satellite links provide global service availability (including both poles, oceans and airways), regardless of the position of ground stations and gateways.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: In 1999, "The New York Times" quoted a wireless market analyst, regarding people having "one number that they could carry with them anywhere" as "expensive... There never was a viable market."


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Due to the shape of the original Iridium satellites' reflective antennas, the first generation satellites focused sunlight on a small area of the Earth surface in an incidental manner. This resulted in a phenomenon called Iridium flares, whereby the satellite momentarily appeared as one of the brightest objects in the night sky and could be seen even during daylight. Newer Iridium satellites do not produce flares.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The Iridium system was designed to be accessed by small handheld phones, the size of a cell phone. While "the weight of a typical cell phone in the early 1990s was 10.5 ounces" (300 grams) "Advertising Age" wrote in mid 1999 that "when its phone debuted, weighing 1 pound (453 grams) and costing $3,000, it was viewed as both unwieldly and expensive."


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: An omnidirectional antenna was intended to be small enough to be mounted on the planned phone, but the low handset battery power was insufficient for contact with a satellite in geostationary orbit, above the Earth; the normal orbit of communications satellites, in which the satellite appears stationary in the sky. In order for a handheld phone to communicate with them, the Iridium satellites are closer to the Earth, in low Earth orbit, about above the surface. With an orbital period of about 100 minutes a satellite can only be in view of a phone for about 7 minutes, so the call is automatically "handed off" to another satellite when one passes beyond the local horizon. This requires a large number of satellites, carefully spaced out in polar orbits (see animated image of coverage) to ensure that at least one satellite is continually in view from every point on the Earth's surface. At least 66 satellites are required, in 6 polar orbits containing 11 satellites each, for seamless coverage.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Orbital velocity of the satellites is approximately . Satellites communicate with neighboring satellites via Ka band inter-satellite links. Each satellite can have four inter-satellite links: one each to neighbors fore and aft in the same orbital plane, and one each to satellites in neighboring planes to either side. The satellites orbit from pole to same pole with an orbital period of roughly 100 minutes. This design means that there is excellent satellite visibility and service coverage especially at the North and South poles. The over-the-pole orbital design produces "seams" where satellites in counter-rotating planes next to one another are traveling in opposite directions. Cross-seam inter-satellite link hand-offs would have to happen very rapidly and cope with large Doppler shifts; therefore, Iridium supports inter-satellite links only between satellites orbiting in the same direction. The constellation of 66 active satellites has six orbital planes spaced 30° apart, with 11 satellites in each plane (not counting spares). The original concept was to have 77 satellites, which is where the name "Iridium" came from; the element iridium has the atomic number 77, and the satellites evoked the Bohr model image of electrons orbiting around the Earth as its nucleus. This reduced set of six planes is sufficient to cover the entire Earth surface at every moment.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The Iridium satellite constellation was conceived in the early 1990s as a way to reach high Earth latitudes with reliable satellite communication services. Early calculations showed that 77 satellites would be needed, hence the name Iridium, after the metal with atomic number 77. It turned out that just 66 were required to complete the blanket coverage of the planet with communication services.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The first-generation constellation was developed by Iridium SSC, and financed by Motorola. The satellites were deployed in 1997–2002. All the satellites needed to be in orbit before commercial service could begin.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Iridium SSC employed a globally diverse fleet of rockets to get their 77 satellites into orbit, including launch vehicles (LVs) from the United States, Russia, and China. 60 were launched to orbit on twelve Delta II rocket carrying five satellites each; 21 on three Proton-K/DM2 rocket with seven each, two on one Rokot/Briz-KM rocket carrying two; and 12 on six Long March 2C/SD rocket carrying two each. The total setup cost for the first-generation fleet was approximately .


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The first test telephone call was made over the network in 1998, and full global coverage was complete by 2002. However, although the system met its technical requirements, it was not a success in the market. Poor reception from inside buildings, bulky and expensive handsets, and competition with the conventional cellular phone contributed to its failure. Insufficient market demand existed for the product at the price points on offer from Iridium as set by its parent company Motorola. The company failed to earn revenue sufficient to service the debt associated with building out the constellation and Iridium went bankrupt, one of the largest bankruptcies in US history at the time.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The constellation continued operation following the bankruptcy of the original Iridium corporation. A new entity emerged to operate the satellites and developed a different product placement and pricing strategy, offering communication services to a niche market of customers who required reliable services of this type in areas of the planet not covered by traditional geosynchronous orbit communication satellite services. Users include journalists, explorers, and military units.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: No new satellites were launched 2002–2017 to replenish the constellation, even though the original satellites based on the LM-700A model had been projected to have a design life of only 8 years.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The second-generation Iridium-NEXT satellites began to be deployed into the existing constellation in January 2017. Iridium Communications, the successor company to Iridium SSC, has ordered a total of 81 new satellites being built by Thales Alenia Space and Orbital ATK: 66 operational units, nine on-orbit spares, and six ground spares.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: In August 2008, Iridium selected two companies — Lockheed Martin and Thales Alenia Space — to participate in the final phase of the procurement of the next-generation satellite constellation.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The design was complete by 2010, and Iridium stated that the existing constellation of satellites would remain operational until Iridium NEXT is fully operational, with many satellites expected to remain in service until the 2020s, while the NEXT satellites would have improved bandwidth. The new system was to be backward-compatible with the current system. In June 2010, the winner of the contract was announced as Thales Alenia Space, in a $2.1 billion deal underwritten by Compagnie Française d'Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur. Iridium additionally stated that it expected to spend about $800 million to launch the satellites and upgrade some ground facilities.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: SpaceX was contracted to launch all the Iridium NEXT satellites. All the Iridium NEXT launches have taken place using a Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Deployment of the constellation began in January 2017, with the launch of the first ten Iridium NEXT satellites. Most recently, on January 11, 2019, SpaceX launched an additional ten satellites, bringing the number of upgraded satellites in orbit to 75.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The satellites each contained seven Motorola/Freescale PowerPC 603E processors running at roughly 200 MHz, connected by a custom backplane network. One processor was dedicated to each cross-link antenna ("HVARC"), and two processors ("SVARC"s) were dedicated to satellite control, one being a spare. Late in the project an extra processor ("SAC") was added to perform resource management and phone call processing.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The cellular look down antenna had 48 spot beams arranged as 16 beams in three sectors. The four inter-satellite cross links on each satellite operated at 10 Mbit/s. Optical links could have supported a much greater bandwidth and a more aggressive growth path, but microwave cross links were chosen because their bandwidth was more than sufficient for the desired system. Nevertheless, a parallel optical cross link option was carried through a critical design review, and ended when the microwave cross links were shown to support the size, weight and power requirements allocated within the individual satellite's budget. Iridium Satellite LLC stated that their second generation satellites would also use microwave, not optical, inter-satellite communications links. Iridium's cross-links are unique in the satellite telephone industry as other providers do not relay data between satellites; Globalstar and Inmarsat both use a transponder without cross-links.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The original design as envisioned in the 1960s was that of a completely static "dumb satellite" with a set of control messages and time-triggers for an entire orbit that would be uploaded as the satellite passed over the poles. It was found that this design did not have enough bandwidth in the space-based backhaul to upload each satellite quickly and reliably over the poles. Moreover, fixed, static scheduling would have left more than 90% of the satellite links idle at all times. Therefore, the design was scrapped in favour of a design that performed dynamic control of routing and channel selection late in the project, resulting in a one-year delay in system delivery.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Each satellite can support up to concurrent phone calls at  bit/s and weighs about . The Iridium System presently operates within a to  MHz band, part of the wider L band, adjacent to the – MHz Radio Astronomy Service (RAS) band.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The configuration of the Satellite concept was designated as Triangular Fixed, 80 Inch Main Mission Antenna, Light-weight (TF80L). The packaging design of the spacecraft was managed by Lockheed Bus Spacecraft team; it was the first commercial satellite bus designed at the Sunnyvale Space Systems Division in California. The TF80L configuration was considered a non-conventional, innovative approach to developing a satellite design that could be assembled and tested in five days. The TF80L design configuration was also instrumental in simultaneously solving fundamental design problems involving optimization of the communications payload thermal environment and RF main mission antenna performance, while achieving the highest payload fairing packaging for each of the three main launch vehicle providers.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The first spacecraft mock-up of this design was built in the garage workshop in Santa Clara, California for the Bus PDR/CDR as a proof-of-concept model. This first prototype paved the way for the design and construction of the first engineering models. This design was the basis of the largest constellation of satellites deployed in low Earth orbit. After ten years of successful on-orbit performance, the Iridium team celebrated the equivalent of cumulative years of on-orbit performance in 2008. One of the engineering Iridium satellite models was placed on permanent exhibit in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: 95 of the 99 built satellites were launched between 1997 and 2002. Four satellites were kept on the ground as spares.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The 95 satellites were launched over twenty-two missions (nine missions in 1997, ten in 1998, one in 1999 and two in 2002). One extra mission on Chang Zheng was a payload test and did not carry any actual satellites.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Spare satellites are usually held in a storage orbit. These can be boosted to the correct altitude and put into service in case of a satellite failure. After the Iridium company emerged from bankruptcy the new owners decided to launch seven new spares, which would have ensured two spare satellites were available in each plane. , not every plane had a spare satellite; however, the satellites can be moved to a different plane if required. A move can take several weeks and consumes fuel which will shorten the satellite's expected service life.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Significant orbital inclination changes are normally very fuel-intensive, but orbital perturbation analysis aids the process. The Earth's equatorial bulge causes the orbital right ascension of the ascending node (RAAN) to precess at a rate that depends mainly on the period and inclination.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: A spare Iridium satellite in the lower storage orbit has a shorter period so its RAAN moves westward more quickly than the satellites in the standard orbit. Iridium simply waits until the desired RAAN (i.e., the desired orbital plane) is reached and then raises the spare satellite to the standard altitude, fixing its orbital plane with respect to the constellation. Although this saves substantial amounts of fuel, it can be a time-consuming process.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: During 2016, Iridium experienced in-orbit failures which could not be corrected with in-orbit spare satellites, thus only 64 of the 66 satellites required for seamless global coverage were in operation. This caused some service interruptions until the next-generation constellation was put into service.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: In 2017, Iridium began launching Iridium NEXT, a second-generation worldwide network of telecommunications satellites, consisting of 66 active satellites, with another nine in-orbit spares and six on-ground spares. These satellites incorporate features such as data transmission that were not emphasized in the original design. The next-generation terminals and service became commercially available in 2018. One of the Iridium NEXT services is Iridium Certus, a globally available satellite broadband, which is capable of up to 704 Kbps of bandwidth across maritime, aviation, land mobile, government, and IoT applications.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The NEXT satellites incorporate a secondary payload for Aireon, a space-qualified ADS-B data receiver for use by air traffic control and, via FlightAware, by airlines. A tertiary payload on 58 satellites is a marine AIS ship-tracker receiver for Canadian company ExactEarth Ltd.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: In January 2020, the Iridium constellation was certified for use in the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). The certification ended a monopoly on the provision of maritime distress services that had previously been held by Inmarsat since the system became operational in 1999.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Iridium NEXT also provides data link to other satellites in space, enabling command and control of other space assets regardless of the position of ground stations and gateways.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: In June 2010, Iridium signed the largest commercial rocket-launch deal ever at that time, a US$492 million contract with SpaceX to launch 70 Iridium NEXT satellites on seven Falcon 9 rockets from 2015 to 2017 via SpaceX leased launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The final two satellites were originally slated to be orbited by a single launch of an ISC Kosmotras Dnepr. Technical issues and consequential demands from Iridium's insurance delayed the launch of the first pair of Iridium NEXT satellites until April 2016.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Iridium NEXT launch plans originally included launch of satellites on both Ukrainian Dnepr launch vehicles and SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicles, with the initial satellites launching on Dnepr in April 2016; however, in February 2016, Iridium announced a change. Due to an extended slowdown in obtaining the requisite launch licenses from Russian authorities, Iridium revamped the entire launch sequence for the 75-satellite constellation. It launched and successfully deployed 10 satellites with SpaceX on January 14, 2017, delayed due to weather from January 9, 2017, and the first of those new satellites took over the duties of an old satellite on March 11, 2017.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: At the time of the launch of the first batch, the second flight of ten satellites was planned to launch only three months later in April 2017. However, in a February 15 statement, Iridium said that SpaceX pushed back the launch of its second batch of Iridium NEXT satellites from mid-April to mid-June 2017. This second launch, which occurred on June 25, 2017, delivered another ten Iridium NEXT satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. A third launch, which occurred on October 9, 2017, delivered another ten satellites to LEO, as planned. The Iridium NEXT IV mission launched with ten satellites on December 23, 2017. The fifth mission, Iridium NEXT V, launched with ten satellites on March 30, 2018. The sixth launch on May 22, 2018, sent another 5 satellites into LEO. The penultimate Iridium NEXT launch occurred on July 25, 2018 launching another 10 Iridium NEXT satellites. The final ten NEXT satellites launched on January 11, 2019. Six additional satellites are in storage on the ground as spares.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Iridium 127 had to be re-designated as Iridium 100 before launch due to a ground software issue. Iridium 101, 174, 177, 178, 179 and 181 are the ground spares. Five of these are planned to be launched on a Falcon 9 flight in mid 2023.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The main patents on the Iridium system, U.S. Patents 5,410,728: ""Satellite cellular telephone and data communication system"", and 5,604,920, are in the field of satellite communications, and the manufacturer generated several hundred patents protecting the technology in the system. Satellite manufacturing initiatives were also instrumental in the technical success of the system. Motorola made a key hire of the engineer who set up the automated factory for Apple's Macintosh. He created the technology necessary to mass-produce satellites on a gimbal, taking weeks instead of months or years and at a record low construction cost of only US$5 million per satellite. At its peak during the launch campaign in 1997 and 1998, Motorola produced a new satellite every 4.3 days, with the lead-time of a single satellite being 21 days.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Over the years a number of Iridium satellites have ceased to work and are no longer in active service, some are partially functional and have remained in orbit whereas others have tumbled out of control or have reentered the atmosphere.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Iridium 21, 27, 20, 11, 24, 71, 44, 14, 79, 69 and 85 all suffered from issues before entering operational service soon after their launch in 1997. By 2018, of these eleven, Iridium 21, 27, 79 and 85 have decayed out of orbit; Iridium 11, 14, 20 and 21 were renamed to Iridium 911, 914, 920 and 921 respectively since replacements of the same name were launched.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: From 2017, several first-generation Iridium satellites have been deliberately de-orbited after being replaced by operational Iridium NEXT satellites.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: At 16:56 UTC on February 10, 2009, Iridium 33 collided with the defunct Russian satellite Kosmos 2251. This accidental collision was the first hypervelocity collision between two artificial satellites in low Earth orbit. Iridium 33 was in active service when the accident took place. It was one of the oldest satellites in the constellation, having been launched in 1997. The satellites collided at a relative speed of roughly This collision created over 2000 large space debris fragments that can be hazardous to other satellites.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Iridium moved one of its in-orbit spares, Iridium 91 (formerly known as Iridium 90), to replace the destroyed satellite, completing the move on March 4, 2009.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Communication between satellites and handsets is done using a TDMA and FDMA based system using L-band spectrum between and  MHz. Iridium exclusively controls 7.775 MHz of this and shares a further 0.95 MHz. In 1999, Iridium agreed to timeshare a portion of spectrum, allowing radio astronomers to observe hydroxyl emissions; the amount of shared spectrum was recently reduced from 2.625 MHz.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: External "hockey puck" type antennas used with Iridium handheld phones, data modems and SBD terminals are usually defined as 3 dB gain, 50 ohms impedance with RHCP (right hand circular polarization) and 1.5:1 VSWR. As Iridium antennas function at frequencies very close to those of GPS, a single antenna may be utilized through a pass-through for both Iridium and GPS reception.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The type of modulation used is normally DE-QPSK, although DE-BPSK is used on the uplink (mobile to satellite) for acquisition and synchronization. Each time slot is 8.28 milliseconds long and sits in a 90 milliseconds frame. Within each FDMA channel there are four TDMA time slots in each direction. The TDMA frame starts off with a 20.32 milliseconds period used for simplex messaging to devices such as pagers and to alert Iridium phones of an incoming call, followed by the four upstream slots and four downstream slots. This technique is known as time-division multiplexing. Small guard periods are used between time slots. Regardless of the modulation method being used, communication between mobile units and satellites is performed at 25 kilobaud.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Channels are spaced at 41.666 kHz and each channel occupies a bandwidth of 31.5 kHz; this allows space for Doppler shifts.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The Iridium system uses three different handoff types. As a satellite travels over the ground location, calls are handed to adjacent spot-beams; this occurs approximately every fifty seconds. A satellite only stays in view for seven minutes at the equator. When the satellite disappears from view, an attempt is made to hand the call to another satellite. If no other satellite is in view, the connection is dropped. This may occur when the signal from either satellite is blocked by an obstacle. When successful, the inter-satellite handoff may be noticeable by a quarter-second interruption.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: The satellites are also able to transfer mobile units to different channels and time slots within the same spot beam.


title: Iridium satellite constellation

text: Iridium routes phone calls through space. In addition to communicating with the satellite phones in its footprint, each satellite in the constellation also maintains contact with two to four adjacent satellites, and routes data between them, to effectively create a large mesh network. There are several ground stations which link to the network through the satellites visible to them. The space-based backhaul routes outgoing phone call packets through space to one of the ground station downlinks ("feeder links"). Iridium ground stations interconnect the satellite network with land-based fixed or wireless infrastructures worldwide to improve availability. Station-to-station calls from one satellite phone to another can be routed directly through space without going through a ground station. As satellites leave the area of a ground station, the routing tables are updated and packets headed for the ground station are forwarded to the next satellite just coming into view of the ground station. Communication between satellites and ground stations is at 20 and 30 GHz.