Rocket Lab announced Monday it is acquiring satellite communications company Iridium Communications in a cash-and-stock deal valued at roughly $8 billion. The acquisition pairs a launch company with a decades-old satellite network, creating what Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck calls a “self-launching space superpower.”
Iridium operates a network of 80 satellites in low-Earth orbit, providing telecommunications services worldwide. The company was founded in 1998 and had to be rescued from bankruptcy by the US government just a few years later. Under CEO Matt Desch, who arrived in 2006, Iridium launched its next-generation constellation with help from SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
For Rocket Lab, the deal is a major step in its effort to compete with SpaceX and Blue Origin. The company has been on a buying spree, acquiring Geost and Mynaric in the last two years to boost its spacecraft-building capabilities. But both of those deals, valued in the low hundreds of millions, are dwarfed by the Iridium acquisition.
The catch is that Rocket Lab’s existing Electron rocket is too small to launch most communications satellites. To truly capitalize on this deal, the company needs to complete development of its medium-lift Neutron rocket, which features a reusable first stage and a novel fairing design. The company originally targeted 2024 for Neutron’s debut but has faced engine failures and structural test anomalies. It is still planning a Q4 2026 launch, though 2027 is looking more realistic.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck called it “the ultimate combination for growth.” Iridium CEO Matt Desch said the deal would “accelerate the next generation of IoT, aviation, maritime, PNT, and national security capabilities.”
