Iridium’s Satellite Network Operating Center (SNOC)

In its financial results for the second quarter of 2017, Iridium reported total revenue of $111.6 million, which consisted of $86.6 million of service revenue and $25 million related to equipment sales and engineering and support projects. This is a revenue increase of approximately 2 percent versus the same period a year ago.

Commercial service remained the largest part of the company’s business, comprising 58 percent of total revenue during the second quarter.

“Iridium continued to benefit from its long-term relationships with growth-oriented partners, particularly in commercial M2M, where subscriber growth of 20 percent helped to fuel recurring service revenue during the second quarter. We expect strong demand for satellite IOT services will drive momentum in our commercial business, especially as we introduce new solutions like Iridium Edge,” said Matt Desch, Iridium’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

On the government side, Iridium continues to operate under two Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) contracts, which include a $400 million, five-year, fixed-price agreement for satcom services, and a $38 million contract to support and maintain the Department of Defense’s (DOD) dedicated gateway.

Capital expenditures in the second quarter came to $119.2 million, related primarily to spending for the Iridium Next satellite constellation. According to Desch, SpaceX has scheduled the third launch of Next satellites for Sept. 30 from Vandenberg Air Force Base.