Iridium grew revenue and subscribers in the second quarter, while the company is in the midst of a deal to be acquired by Rocket Lab. The satellite operator reported $225.2 million in Q2 revenue, up 4% year-over-year.
Commercial revenue of $133.7 million was up 4% from the same time last year, with Commercial IoT data delivering a 9% increase in billable subscribers. Iridium noted that increases in commercial services were partially offset by a decrease in commercial broadband revenue.
Commercial IoT led subscriber growth for the company. Iridium ended the quarter with 2,627,000 total billable subscribers, up 6% year-over-year.
Iridium’s government service revenue grew 3% year-over-year to $27.6 million due to rate increases in the company’s Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) contract.
Equipment revenue, while a smaller portion of overall revenue, was up 7% year-over-year to $20.8 million.
Iridium did not hold an investor call because of the pending acquisition. Rocket Lab’s deal for Iridium values the company at $8 billion in a mix of cash and stock. Rocket Lab highlighted the value of becoming fully vertically integrated with Iridium’s satellite network and spectrum.
“Iridium’s global network and expanding service portfolio continues to be the gold standard for mission critical applications,” said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. “We believe vertically integrating with Rocket Lab’s industry leading launch and satellite capabilities will allow the combined company to realize even greater ambitions to solve important connectivity challenges around the world.”
