Rocket Lab continues buying spree by acquiring satellite company Iridium

In Brief

Launch institution Rocket Lab is buying outer relation Iridium, putting it successful a presumption to go a much full-fledged abstraction services company, and continuing a question of consolidation successful the industry.

The deal, which hasn’t yet closed, volition spot Rocket Lab get Iridium’s banal for $54 per share, valuing the outer institution astatine $8 billion.

This is 1 of respective acquisitions for Rocket Lab this year. The institution antecedently bought abstraction robotics institution Motiv successful May, acquired laser communications supplier Mynaric successful April, and purchased a precision constituent manufacturer successful February. It besides bought optical sensor defence contractor Geost past year.

Iridium not lone operates dozens of satellites presently successful orbit, but it besides owns a bundle of invaluable spectrum. Rocket Lab said successful a press release Monday that it plans to “build upon” Iridium’s existing web successful bid to “scale into untapped markets and pioneer caller space-based services to the payment of planetary customers.”

Rocket Lab’s announcement comes aft years of consolidation among abstraction and outer companies, including ViaSat acquiring Inmarsat and a backstage equity steadfast buying Maxar successful 2023, and Lockheed Martin purchasing outer shaper Terran Orbital successful 2024. In April 2026, Amazon — which is gathering a space-based net rival to SpaceX’s Starlink — bought outer company Globalstar for $11.6 billion.

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