Mobile communications not only is critical to military operations, but also to enterprise verticals such as asset tracking, aviation and maritime services. Iridium Satellite LLC will be focusing on these verticals for its data services in the near-term, according to Ted O’Brien, Iridium’s vice president of channel development.

“The [U.S. Defense Department] is only 25 percent of the business of Iridium Satellite LLC,” O’Brien said during a Washington Space Business Roundtable luncheon in Washington, D.C., Dec. 8. “Our over-the-poles coverage gives us the advantage to service various markets such as general aviation.”

O’Brien added that it’s the data business that will actually maintain Iridium’s hot growth levels. “In the last year alone, data services grew 49 percent over the previous year.”

Today, the company is financially self-sufficient and profitable. With the business growth experienced by Iridium, discussion is surfacing in regard to the next step the company’s financial owners will take. Even though O’Brien did not confirm an impending initial public offering (IPO) of stock on the horizon, he said, “We are in a good position right now to consider many options, of which an IPO is one.”