how to do i get the status of satellites i.e. alive or dead while flight is in air

Question

I'm just planning to build small app in Android which checks the status of satellite i.e. alive or dead.

In airplane cabin, crew member can use internet from the mulitple Wireless Access Point which are connected to Satellite modem. The satellite modem is connected to Radome which gets to-n-fro signals from satellite. Suppose it use Iridium satellite internet services.

how will my app communicate to satellite to get the it's status. Will it communicate via router or satellite modem to get it's status.

Thanks,