The deal will be the rocket manufacturer’s “shortcut” to enter the space applications market, CEO Peter Beck said. Accessing Iridium’s spectrum could also help level the playing field with rival SpaceX.

A new American vertical launcher-operator is formed by merging a former “big four” satellite operator with a commercial launcher building a competitor to SpaceX's Falcon 9

June 29 : Rocket Lab said on Monday it would acquire satellite communications provider Iridium Communications in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $8 billion, marking one of…

This could eat into SpaceX's end-to-end space biz.