Rocket Lab closed at $98.01 on June 29, up 15.9% on the day, after announcing it would buy Iridium Communications for about $8 billion in cash and stock. Iridium did better still. Its shares jumped 25.4% to $54.59, almost exactly the price Rocket Lab offered. Investors, in other words, expect the deal to go through.
The offer is $54 per Iridium share, split about evenly between cash and Rocket Lab stock. That is a 24% premium to Iridium’s June 26 close. Rocket Lab’s market value now sits near $61 billion, and it is using that freshly lifted stock to cover about half the price.
What $8 billion buys
Here’s what it means in plain terms. Rocket Lab spent years selling rides to orbit, and now it is buying the destination: a network, the radio spectrum it runs on, and 2.55 million paying customers.
Iridium is no fast grower. It reported $871.7 million in revenue and $114.4 million in net income for 2025, a steady business that works more like a utility. The prize is its globally licensed L-band spectrum and a network of 66 satellites in low Earth orbit, with 14 spares circling alongside. The six polar orbital planes of 11 satellites each link to one another in space, so calls can hop between satellites before reaching the ground.
Beck was blunt about the appeal. The deal skips the years it takes to win “globally harmonized spectrum” and launch a constellation from scratch.
Think of Starlink as a fire hose and Iridium as a garden tap that works everywhere. Starlink runs on Ka-band and Ku-band frequencies and needs larger antennas. Iridium’s L-band signals pass through clouds and foliage and reach handheld devices, aircraft beacons and personal locators, including near the poles. Its Certus broadband service tops out at 704 kbps.
A customer for Neutron
Iridium’s satellites are aging. When it replaced its constellation between 2017 and 2019, it paid SpaceX to fly all eight Falcon 9 missions. After closing, replacements could ride on Rocket Lab’s own Neutron rocket, which is still in development, so the launch margin would stay inside the company. Until Neutron flies, that saving is a projection.
Iridium also brings recurring income, aviation tracking through its Aireon stake, and positioning, navigation and timing services. Rocket Lab lost $198.2 million on $601.8 million in revenue in 2025. Its chief financial officer, Adam Spice, called the deal “significantly accretive” to cash flow and profitability.
The fine print
The structure comes with a collar on the stock portion. If Rocket Lab’s 10-day volume-weighted average price falls to $67.50 or below, holders receive 0.4000 Rocket Lab shares per Iridium share. At $112.50 or above, they receive 0.2400. A $3.6 billion bridge loan from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo will need refinancing before closing.
Iridium will be delisted from Nasdaq and become a wholly owned subsidiary. A termination fee of $223.62 million is payable by Iridium under specified circumstances, and its directors, who hold about 1.6% of the shares, have signed voting agreements. Both boards approved the deal unanimously.
Closing is expected in mid-2027, pending regulatory approval and a vote by Iridium stockholders.
Sources
- Rocket Lab's $8 Billion Iridium Deal Is a Bet on the Whole Space Stack
- Rocket Lab Acquires Iridium for $8 Billion, Targeting SpaceX Starlink with L-Band Spectrum
