Iridium reported $145,300,000 in revenue for the first three months of 2020, up 9% from the same period in 2019.
Iridium’s government revenue is anchored by a seven-year, $738,500,000 contract with the U.S. Defense Department signed in September.
Iridium had told analysts to expect 2020 revenue to exceed 2019’s $447,200,000 by 6–8% prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Iridium no longer expects its Certus broadband service to reach $100,000,000 in annual revenue in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Iridium and OneWeb established a partnership in September to develop a combined service pairing Iridium’s L-band connectivity with OneWeb’s future Ku-band service.
Iridium operates an L-band network of 66 satellites in low Earth orbit and opposes Ligado’s plan.
Tethers Unlimited would need to be paid more than $10,000 per satellite to attach Terminator Tape to abandoned spacecraft, based on the price Iridium CEO Matt Desch floated as a conversation starter.
SpaceX used the same Falcon 9 booster to launch 60 Starlink satellites in May 2019, 10 Iridium Next satellites for Iridium in January 2019, and Telesat Canada’s Telstar 18 Vantage in September 2018.
Ninety-five Iridium satellites were launched between 1997 and 2002, of which 30 malfunctioned and remain in low Earth orbit.
Iridium borrowed $1,450,000,000 on 2019-11-04 and used that funding, along with cash, to repay $1,550,000,000 in export credit loans from Bpifrance Assurance Export.
Iridium’s new loan is due in 2026 and includes a $100,000,000 five-year revolving credit line.
Iridium completed a $1,450,000,000 refinancing to pay off loans it acquired to purchase its second-generation constellation, which is now in orbit.
DEUCSI is testing the Iridium Certus service under a $2,500,000 contract.
The Gateway Evolution IDIQ follows an $8,570,000 task order Iridium received in 2016 to ready the gateway for Iridium Next.
Iridium plans to provide speeds up to 1.4 megabits per second for voice and data services through an offering called Iridium Certus.
Iridium and OneWeb signed a memorandum of understanding at Iridium’s annual partner conference in Coronado, California on 2019-09-17.
Iridium plans to invest around $10–12 million over the next three years to upgrade a gateway station in Hawaii dedicated to U.S. government services.
Iridium borrowed $1,800,000,000 in 2010 from a syndicate of banks through a credit facility from BPIAE to finance the purchase of 81 satellites from Thales Alenia Space.
Iridium’s 2013 mobile services contract was worth $400 million, or roughly $80,000,000 per year.
In 2018 U.S. government customers generated $105,700,000 of Iridium’s $523,000,000 in revenue, about 20% of the company’s total revenue for the year.