Iridium

History

In December 2000, a group of private investors led by Dan Colussy organized and named our company Iridium when they acquired the operating assets of the bankrupt Iridium LLC. This included the satellite constellation, the terrestrial network, Iridium real property and intellectual capital.

Since its inception, Iridium has steadily grown in customers, markets served and partners. Click here to view the growth.

Only Iridium is currently used everywhere. Click here for a recent snapshot of where Iridium is being used.

Other key milestones include:

The 1990s	The original Iridium LLC enters Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 1999.
December 2000	"Iridium Satellite LLC" acquires Iridium's assets out of bankruptcy. U.S. DoD awards contract.
March 2001	Iridium begins offering commercial service for mobile voice; shifts company's strategy to vertical markets.
June 2001	Introduces data and Internet services.
February 2002	Announces successful deployment of in-orbit spares.
June 2003	Introduces short-burst data (SBD) services.
August 2003	Announces short messaging services (SMS).
March 2004	Launches fax and enhanced messaging services.
June 2004	FCC grants access to 3.1 MHz of additional spectrum.
July 2004	Surpasses 100,000+ subscribers; achieves positive EBITDA.
September 2005	Provides critical telecommunications to first responders in Hurricane Katrina region. Regional traffic increases more than 3000%.
February 2006	Launches compact lower-cost satellite data transceiver for supply chain management, field force automation and remote asset tracking. Commences engineering studies for future satellite replenishment and replacement plan.
November 2006	Announces 169,000+ subscribers. Third quarter 2006 revenue was $54.7 million; EBITDA was $14.0 million. Participated in completion of testing of Phase One of Netted Iridium service with the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Warfighting Lab.
February 2007	Announces 183,000+ subscribers; first quarter 2007 revenue of $52.7 million and EBITDA was $13.6 million; Announced plans for new satellite constellation initiative, Iridium NEXT; Introduced the Iridium "Network Quality Guarantee" program; China Spacecom announced plans to open an Iridium gateway earth station; Iridium announces plans to open a new TTAC earth station in Norway.
July 2007	Announces 203,000+ subscribers. Second quarter 2007 revenue of $66.7 million and EBITDA was $20.2 million. Handset sales increased 56% above second quarter 2006.

Iridium's financial milestones have also been noteworthy. The company has steadily grown in every business category.