Iridium already owns 39% of Aireon.
Iridium will pay 50% of the purchase price at closing and the remainder on the one-year anniversary of the closing.
Iridium plans to use Aireon’s capabilities to offer space-based VHF communications for pilots and air traffic controllers in remote locations.
Aireon’s system flies as a payload on the Iridium satellite constellation.
Iridium has a long-term net leverage target of 2.0 times by the end of the decade.
Iridium will assume Aireon’s outstanding debt, which is expected to be approximately $155 million at closing.
Iridium expects the acquisition to add at least $100 million in annual service revenue and $30 million in annual operating earnings on a consolidated basis.
The combined Iridium-Aireon company will deliver global aircraft tracking, pilot-to-controller satellite communications, positioning, navigation and timing integrity services, and aviation data analytics on one platform.
Iridium expects net leverage to reach approximately 4.0 times operating earnings in the third quarter of 2026 before returning to current levels within 12 months.
Evercore served as financial adviser to Iridium, and Cooley and Milbank served as its legal counsel.
Iridium will pay the $366.7 million purchase price 50% in cash at closing and 50% one year later through an interest-free seller loan secured by a first-priority lien on Aireon’s equity.
Iridium says no other satellite operator offers all four of those capabilities globally.
Iridium’s Satellite Time and Location service broadcasts positioning signals from low Earth orbit at power levels up to 1,000 times stronger than GPS.
Iridium unveiled the Iridium 9604 in February 2026.
Air Inuit’s tracking architecture uses both Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast position reporting and Iridium satellite tracking.
The Air Inuit tracking system provides one-minute ADS-B reporting and configurable Iridium flight following.
SpaceX’s Starlink Direct-to-Cell and Iridium’s NTN Direct services are maturing as satellite fallback options for consumer devices.
The Iridium 9604 integrates Short Burst Data satellite connectivity, LTE-M cellular, and GNSS into a single 16 mm x 26 mm x 2.4 mm module.
The Iridium 9604 reduces board space by 60%.
The FCC reaffirmed Globalstar and Iridium’s exclusive operating rights in the Big LEO band for Non-Geostationary Orbit mobile satellite services.