Rocket Lab to acquire Iridium

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab is acquiring satellite telecommunications company Iridium for $8 billion as part of its effort to become an end-to-end space company.

The companies announced an agreement June 29 under which Rocket Lab will acquire Iridium for $54 a share in cash and stock, valuing Iridium at $8 billion. That is a 24% premium over the closing price of Iridium’s shares June 26. The deal is projected to close in mid-2027 pending regulatory and other approvals.

Iridium operates a constellation of 66 satellites, with 14 on-orbit spares, that provides phone and data services using L-band spectrum. That includes aviation tracking services from Aireon, which Iridium acquired in May for $367 million by purchasing the 61% stake it did not already own, as well as a recent push into positioning, navigation and timing, or PNT, services.

The acquisition gives Rocket Lab, a launch services provider and manufacturer of satellites and satellite components, an entry into the satellite services market.

“This will be one of the most transformative deals in the space industry,” said Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, in a presentation about the acquisition. “It combines Rocket Lab’s launch capability and satellite manufacturing with Iridium’s global satellite communications network and its rare spectrum.”

“Rocket Lab will become a fully integrated self-launching space superpower delivering critical communications capability to millions of users worldwide,” he said.

Beck, in earnings calls going back more than a year, has hinted that the company would pursue its own satellite constellation to provide unspecified services. He offered few specifics about the plan, and the company had not taken steps such as filing for spectrum needed for a constellation.

Beck, in the presentation, noted the difficulties in obtaining globally harmonized spectrum as well as the long time needed to deploy a constellation and generate revenue from it. By buying Iridium, “we think we’ve found a little bit of a shortcut here.”

“The result of this is it creates a self-launching company that can deliver new constellations and new services to the world,” he said, but did not elaborate on the plans for those future constellations and services.

“We are going to apply the Rocket Lab magic to it,” he said of Iridium. “We’re going to absorb it and optimize it and scale it into something really truly fantastic.”

“Combining with Rocket Lab is the best way for us to take our experience and success into the future of the space business,” Matt Desch, chief executive of Iridium, said in t