Space launch firm Rocket Lab is to acquire US satellite communications provider Iridium in a deal valued at around $8 billion (£6bn), in a move to combine services and launch capabilities – a model similar to that of SpaceX, with its Starlink satellite network.
Iridium, founded in 1998, had to be bailed out of bankruptcy in its early days, but in the 2010s worked with SpaceX to launch more satellites and became SpaceX’s most important early launch customer.
Iridium now operates 80 low-Earth orbit satellites that provide telecommunications services in the government, military, aviation, maritime and commercial sectors.
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on 7 May, 2023, carrying two TROPICS CubeSats for NASA. Image credit: Rocket Lab
Satellite-based services
