Satellite operator Iridium Communications has entered into an agreement to acquire Aireon, which operates the world’s only space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) air traffic surveillance system. Buying Aireon is a major step in Iridium’s strategy to provide the foundational architecture for global aviation safety, bringing space-based surveillance, safety communications, Positioning, Navigation & Tiiming (PNT), and […]

Investment bank Morgan Stanley, reportedly a front-runner bank to handle an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for SpaceX’s Starlink – has downgraded satellite operator Iridium and has cut its former price steeply from $37 to $24 and a new share price target for Iridium. The bank advised clients that its outlook for Iridium shifts from ‘Overweight’ […]

Specialist satellite operator Iridium, which provides highly-secure connectivity to the world’s governments, military and first-responders in disaster situations, has altered its forecasts for the next few years. The company’s core Q3 results were solid, with revenue of $226.9 million (€195m) vs analyst estimates of $223.2 million (6.7 per cent year-on-year growth). Iridium, with its 66 […]

Iridium, already a popular satellite system and in favour with military and first responders, says it will begin testing its satellite direct-to-device (D2D) service this summer with Norway’s Nordic Semiconductor. How long it will take before Iridium’s L-band D2D narrowband solution – which starts with just texting – will be integrated into chipsets for mobile […]

Iridium already supplies satellite-based telephony to the armed forces, first responders and some key non-governmental organisations. The company says it now expects to start Direct-To-Device (D2D) satellite-phone calls in 2026. Iridium made the comments during its 2024 full year results (total revenue in 2024 of $830.7 million (€792.8m), which was up 5 per cent from […]

Satellite communications specialists Iridium is funding $500 million (€448.7m) to buy back its own shares for cancellation. The move, approved by its directors on September 19th, is the largest-ever for the company which supplies satellite-based connectivity to government agencies, NGOs, the military and emergency ‘first responders’. It is the fourth buyback from Iridium in the […]

The overwhelming message from last week’s Paris World Satellite Business Week was that of uncertainty over future demand. The sentiment was most pronounced in the Direct-2-Consumer (D2C) panel, where the operators talked of their plans and ambitions, but which were also tempered by anxieties of ‘if we build it will they come’. Scott Wisniewski, president […]

Iridium Communications, which provides satellite telephony and data services to the planet’s hard-to-reach areas as well as emergency services, says it is adding 5 years to its current orbital constellation, and has direct-to-smartphone firmly in its sights. Iridium’s existing mega-constellation of 66 satellites were initially given life-spans of 12.5 years when launched in 2017 or […]

Voice and data satellite communications provider Iridium has unveiled Project Stardust, the evolution of its direct-to-device (D2D) strategy with 3GPP 5G standards-based Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) Non-Terrestrial Network (NB-NTN) service development. As a new standards-based solution, it will be deployed on Iridium’s existing satellite network giving the company a unique ability to offer both high-quality […]