TAMPA, Fla. — Iridium Communications announced plans March 4 to buy out Satelles, which provides an alternative to GPS via the satellite operator’s L-band network, marking the first acquisition in the 36-year-old company’s history.
The operator is spending about $115 million to buy the 80% of Satelles it does not already own in a deal they expect to complete April 1.
Reston, Virginia-based Satelles has been broadcasting timing and location signals since 2016 through a channel Iridium’s satellites in low Earth orbit previously used for paging.
These signals are a thousand times more powerful than those from U.S.-based GPS satellites and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), Iridium CEO Matt Desch said during a media briefing.
Stronger signals from space are better at penetrating walls for indoor coverage and are also less susceptible to being jammed or spoofed.
Rising demand for more secure positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) capabilities that can also serve as a backup for existing GNSS helped Satelles generate revenues in the low tens of millions of dollars in 2023, Desch said, and are set to become a major contributor to Iridium’s bottom line in the coming years.
Iridium estimates Satelles service revenue will climb to more than $100 million per year by 2030, on top of sales from equipment and engineering.
The acquisition comes as Iridium seeks to hit $1 billion in annual sales before the decade’s end, derived mainly from the company’s voice, messaging, and data connectivity services. Iridium recorded $791 million in revenues for 2023, up 10% year-on-year.
During a recent investor meeting, the publicly listed operator said “tuck-in acquisitions” would help the company reach its $1 billion goal.
In addition to Satelles, Iridium is a minority shareholder in Aireon, the aircraft-tracking venture that also leverages its constellation, and GNSS signal aggregator DDK Positioning.
Iridium…
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