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Iridium Communications

#3412

Rank

$3.28B

Marketcap

US United States

Country

Iridium Communications
Leadership team

Mr. Matthew J. Desch (CEO & Director)

Mr. Thomas J. Fitzpatrick (CFO, Chief Admin. Officer & Director)

Ms. Suzanne E. McBride (COO & Director)

Products/ Services
Mobile, Wireless
Number of Employees
500 - 1000
Headquarters
Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Established
2001
Company Registration
SEC CIK number: 0001418819
Net Income
20M - 100M
Revenue
500M - 1B
Traded as
IRDM
Social Media
Overview
Location
Summary
Iridium Communications Inc. provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and international governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers worldwide. The company offers postpaid mobile voice and data satellite communications; prepaid mobile voice satellite communications; push-to-talk; broadband data; and Internet of Things (IoT) services. It also provides hosted payload and other data services, such as satellite time and location services, and inbound connections from the public switched telephone network, short message, subscriber identity module, activation, customer reactivation, and other peripheral services. In addition, the company offers voice and data solutions comprising personnel tracking devices; asset tracking devices for equipment, vehicles, and aircrafts; beyond-line-of-sight aircraft communications applications; maritime communications applications; specialized communications solutions for high-value individuals; mobile communications and data devices for the military and intelligence agencies, such as secure satellite handsets, as well as netted voice, messaging, and paging services; and maintenance services for the United States government's dedicated gateway. Further, it provides satellite handsets, personal connectivity devices, voice and data modems, broadband data devices, and IoT data devices; various accessories for its devices that include batteries, holsters, earbud headphones, portable auxiliary antennas, antenna adaptors, USB data cables, charging units, and others; and engineering and support services. Iridium Communications Inc. sells its products and services to commercial end users through a wholesale distribution network that include service providers, and value-added resellers and manufacturers. The company was formerly known as Iridium Holdings LLC and changed its name to Iridium Communications Inc. in September 2009. Iridium Communications Inc. was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.
History

The Iridium communications service was launched on November 1, 1998, formerly known as Iridium SSC. The first Iridium call was made by Vice President of the United States Al Gore to Gilbert Grosvenor, the great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell and chairman of the National Geographic Society. Motorola provided the technology and major financial backing. The logo of the company represents the Big Dipper. The company derives its name from the chemical element iridium, which has an atomic number of 77, equaling the initial number of satellites which were planned to be deployed.On August 13, 1999, nine months after the launch of the organization, the founding company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The handsets could not operate as promoted until the entire constellation of satellites was in place, requiring a massive initial capital cost of billions of dollars. The cost of service dissuaded many potential users. Reception indoors was difficult and the hand held devices, when compared to terrestrial cellular mobile phones were bulkier and more expensive, both of which discouraged adoption among potential users.Mismanagement is another major factor cited in the original program's failure. In 1999, CNN writer David Rohde detailed how he applied for Iridium service and was sent information kits, but was never contacted by a sales representative. He encountered programming problems on Iridium's website, and a "run-around" from the company's representatives. After Iridium filed bankruptcy, it cited "difficulty gaining subscribers."The initial commercial failure of Iridium had a damping effect on other proposed commercial satellite constellation projects, including Teledesic. Other schemes followed Iridium into bankruptcy protection, while a number of other proposed schemes were never constructed.In August 2000, Motorola announced that the Iridium satellites would have to be deorbited; however, they remained in orbit and operational. In December 2000, the US government stepped in to save Iridium by providing $72 million in exchange for a two-year contract and approving the fire-sale of the company from US bankruptcy court for $25 million, in March 2001. This erased over $4 billion in debt.Iridium service was restarted in 2001 by the newly founded Iridium Satellite LLC, which was owned by a group of private investors.On February 10, 2009, Iridium 33 collided with a defunct Russian satellite, Kosmos 2251, 800 kilometres over Siberia. Two large debris clouds were created.

Iridium NEXT launch campaign

Iridium replaced its original constellation by sending 75 new Iridium satellites into space on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. The campaign also consisted of upgrades to Iridium ground infrastructure.The Iridium NEXT launch campaign was announced in 2007. Within three years, Iridium completed financing and began work on launching new satellites. In June 2010, Iridium announced a fixed-price contract with Thales Alenia Space for the design and construction of the next-generation satellites for the upgraded constellation. Two weeks later, Iridium announced a $492 million contract designating the Falcon 9 as a major provider of launch services for the Iridium NEXT campaign, becoming the largest single commercial launch deal ever signed .On January 14, 2017, 10 years after the campaign was first announced, the first of eight Iridium NEXT launches took place with SpaceX from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Over the next two years, Iridium sent an additional 65 satellites into low Earth orbit to completely replace the original satellite constellation. The final Iridium NEXT launch took place on January 11, 2019, less than 2 years after the first launch.The Iridium NEXT network covers the entire Earth, including poles, oceans and airways, with 66 satellites, with the remaining 9 acting as active backups, for a total of 75 launched. Six remain on the ground as spares for a total of 81 built.

Mission
To enable people and businesses to stay connected to their world, no matter where they are.
Vision
A world where everyone and everything is connected through global satellite service.
Key Team

Mr. Bryan J. Hartin (Exec. VP of Sales & Marketing)

Mr. Scott T. Scheimreif (Exec. VP of Gov. Programs)

Mr. Gregory Pelton (Chief Technical Officer)

Ms. Manjula Sriram (VP & Chief Information Officer)

Mr. Kenneth B. Levy (VP of Investor Relations)

Ms. Kathleen A. Morgan (Chief Legal Officer & Company Sec.)

Mr. Donald L. Thoma (Pres & CEO of Aireon LLC)

Recognition and Awards
Iridium has been awarded numerous technology awards, including the Technology & Engineering Emmy Award and the Telecoms.com Award for Outstanding Innovation.
References
Iridium Communications
Leadership team

Mr. Matthew J. Desch (CEO & Director)

Mr. Thomas J. Fitzpatrick (CFO, Chief Admin. Officer & Director)

Ms. Suzanne E. McBride (COO & Director)

Products/ Services
Mobile, Wireless
Number of Employees
500 - 1000
Headquarters
Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Established
2001
Company Registration
SEC CIK number: 0001418819
Net Income
20M - 100M
Revenue
500M - 1B
Traded as
IRDM
Social Media