Groundbreaking Iridium Certus® 100 Service Launches with Partner Products for Land, Sea, Air and Industrial IoT

Rhea-AI Summary

Iridium Communications announces the launch of its Iridium Certus 100 service, offering midband satellite connectivity for maritime, aviation, IoT, and government applications. This service supports small, low-profile antennas and delivers data speeds up to 88 Kbps, enabling two-way communication and high-quality voice services. Over a dozen new partner products are now certified, catering to various markets including autonomous vehicles and remote monitoring. The service provides essential capabilities that have not been previously addressed by other satellite operators.

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• Launch of Iridium Certus 100 service enables small and portable satellite connectivity solutions.
• Service supports data speeds up to 88 Kbps, attracting diverse applications across maritime, aviation, and IoT sectors.
• More than a dozen partner products certified, expanding Iridium's market reach and product offerings.

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• None.

Over a dozen new Iridium Connected^® midband products are planned to enter the market in the coming months

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced that its Iridium Certus^® 100 "midband" service is commercially available for maritime, land mobile, IoT, aviation and government customers. Iridium Certus 100 provides a unique blend of capabilities for satellite connectivity, enabling small, low-profile antennas and battery-powered devices designed for maximum mobility, but with IP data speeds that efficiently support sending important pictures, emails and other vital information from remote places.

No other satellite operator can provide this range of capabilities globally, enabling new classes of connected products

Iridium Certus 100 debuts with several new Iridium Connected^® partner products and is designed to address market demand for new satcom solutions requiring small form factor and battery or line-powered mobile equipment, capable of two-way IP data and high-quality voice services. No other satellite operator can provide this range of capabilities over the whole planet, enabling new classes of connected products.

To date, Iridium has already certified over a dozen new partner-built products that will provide weather-resilient connections up to 88 Kbps, with more in development. Iridium Certus 100 products are well suited for autonomous vehicles like unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), remote monitoring of facilities or equipment, and even new personal communications devices that include messaging, photos and low-resolution video. The small, handheld portability of the new equipment means many devices can be battery powered or integrated as an onboard communications system for vessels, aircraft and connected vehicles.

"Our new Iridium Certus 100 midband service is designed for applications that are agile, remote, and need more throughput than our traditional narrowband offerings, but don't demand the speeds or larger, heavier antennas used in our popular Iridium Certus broadband solutions," said Iridium CEO Matt Desch. "The impressive number of new products coming to market from our partners tells us that we're addressing an important new capability that has never been addressed by satellite operators before."

Among the first products available are the SkyLink by Blue Sky Network and LT-4100 by Lars Thrane.  SkyLink is a dual-mode data management solution for land, air, sea, and IoT applications, which has already been chosen for integration into UAV and USV systems.  Available in each of the four mentioned vertical configurations, SkyLink is an adaptive solution with efficient size, weight and power features, making it ideal for mid-sized vessels, vehicles, remote monitoring stations, industrial IoT, unmanned systems, and government and military aviation.

The LT-4100 by Lars Thrane has been designed for the professional mariner, particularly for deep sea fishing and workboats. However, it also presents an attractive choice for the leisure market with IP data capabilities supporting messaging and email. The terminal has been engineered to withstand the demanding and rough environment at sea and comes standard with two high-quality voice lines.

Some of the additional solutions approaching commercial availability or in beta testing include the Flylogix UAV system, Ground Control's RockRemote, the McQ CONNECT™ and the NAL Research Quicksilver (QS-100). 

The Flylogix UAV system is used for routine offshore emissions monitoring and infrastructure inspection. This system is serving multiple territories around the world and is now capable of real-time data delivery to customers as well as its existing command and control.

The RockREMOTE from Ground Control is an IP-based, dual-mode LTE-Satellite communications solution designed for industrial IoT applications, ideal for remote sites operated by utilities, renewables, oil and gas businesses. The RockREMOTE offers companies the ability to better manage their off-the-grid assets with a full Linux OS and integrated storage allowing for edge computing that brings added intelligence, security and cost-effectiveness to customer applications.

The McQ CONNECT is a small satcom modem designed for government applications that can send and receive information in real-time over Internet Protocol (IP) networks.  It can augment existing McQ devices such as the McQ Owl, enabling it to transmit video and high-quality photos, or the McQ CONNECT can serve as an integrated communications device for mobile assets. Data is transported in real-time through a secure Cloud network enabling command and control of remote assets globally.

The NAL Research QUICKSILVER (QS-100) has been designed for diverse and demanding government missions as well as commercial applications. It is built for both standalone use and embedded platform integration, enabling reliable communications in the toughest environments from anywhere in the world. Quicksilver's midband speeds and compact size make it the ideal choice for staying connected.  From data links and command and control (C2) of unmanned systems to diagnostic monitoring applications, Quicksilver delivers your data when you need it, where you need it.

Iridium Certus 100 midband speeds can support email, messaging applications like WhatsApp, media sharing, telemetry reporting, file transfer, internet/VPN access and up to two simultaneous high-quality voice calls.  When combined with the latest in Iridium partner data compression technologies, Iridium Certus 100 also supports low-resolution video transmission for surveillance and monitoring applications.

Iridium Certus is the world's most advanced L-band satellite service platform, offering the flexibility to scale device speeds, sizes and power requirements both up and down based on the needs of the end-user. Delivered over the recently upgraded Iridium^® satellite constellation, the Iridium Certus service goes beyond serving solely as a connectivity solution. It provides a platform for the company's partners to develop specialized broadband, midband and narrowband applications to connect people and assets, made possible by Iridium's unique crosslinked L-band network.

For more information about Iridium visit: www.iridium.com                                

Iridium Communications Inc. 
Iridium^® is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. In 2019, the company completed a generational upgrade of its satellite network and launched its new specialty broadband service, Iridium Certus^®. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com. 

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

Statements in this presentation that are not purely historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has based these statements on its current expectations and the information currently available to us. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the capabilities and benefits of Iridium Certus 100 services and related products. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects," "intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding the development and functionality of Iridium services, regulatory approvals, and the company's ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite constellation, as well as general industry and economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 11, 2021, and the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on October 19, 2021, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

 

Media Contact:
Jordan Hassin
Iridium Communications Inc.
Jordan.Hassin@Iridium.com
+1 (703) 287-7421
Twitter: @Iridiumcomm

Investor Contact:
Kenneth Levy
Iridium Communications Inc.
Ken.Levy@Iridium.com 
+1 (703) 287-7570

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SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.

FAQ

What is Iridium Certus 100 and when was it launched?

Iridium Certus 100 is a midband satellite connectivity service launched on November 10, 2021.

What data speeds does the Iridium Certus 100 service support?

Iridium Certus 100 supports data speeds up to 88 Kbps.

How does Iridium Certus 100 benefit maritime and aviation industries?

It provides reliable, small-form-factor connectivity solutions ideal for maritime and aviation applications.

What types of products are certified under the Iridium Certus 100 service?

Over a dozen partner-built products including solutions for autonomous vehicles and remote monitoring have been certified.

Which markets can the Iridium Certus 100 service address?

It caters to maritime, land mobile, IoT, aviation, and government markets.