Iridium Launches Next Generation IoT Platform

 Smaller, purpose-built, and designed for scale, the new Iridium 9604 unifies satellite, cellular, and GNSS in a single platform engineered for global IoT

MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 24, 2026 /CNW/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM), a leading provider of global voice, data, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, today unveiled the Iridium 9604, a compact, three-in-one IoT module that integrates Iridium Short Burst Data^® (SBD^®) satellite service, LTE-M cellular connectivity, and GNSS positioning into a single platform. By combining these features in one device, the Iridium 9604 reduces solution complexity, lowers costs, and accelerates time to market, making dual-mode IoT connectivity viable for price-sensitive, high-volume deployments.

The Iridium 9604 three-in-one module. Quarter and module to scale.

"By integrating cellular, GNSS, and Iridium satellite into a single, power-efficient module, we're giving customers the flexibility to design and deploy lower cost, smaller, power-efficient, and location-aware solutions without the burden of integrating multiple components," said Tim Last, executive vice president, Iridium. "With our best-in-class proprietary satellite IoT service and upcoming standards-based NB-IoT service debuting this year, anyone thinking about IoT beyond terrestrial networks is thinking about Iridium first."

The Iridium 9604 beta program, which launched earlier this year and was oversubscribed by a select group of companies, has generated positive industry feedback highlighting:

• Lower costs, simplified design, and enabling of location-aware network selection
• Savings of 60 percent or more in board space with the 3-in-1 module, Iridium's smallest-ever form factor
• Easy to use developer resources

"As an early Iridium 9604 developer, utilizing the three-in-one module has already fundamentally changed our product economics," said Alastair MacLeod, CEO, Ground Control. "We eliminated two components from our bill of materials, reduced our board size, and simplified our power architecture."

MacLeod continued, "Additionally, having dual mode connectivity options enables a smarter, location-aware network selection in our application. The Iridium 9604 turned what would have been a complex multi-component design into a single-module solution. This is a major breakthrough for our IoT solutions."

"Our customers require essential data and real-time intelligence to operate with confidence anywhere in the world," said Dean Welten, CEO, Everlink. "By integrating the Iridium 9604 with our secure cloud platform, we can now enable global connectivity, greater operational efficiency, and measurable impact at scale."

Representing the next phase of Iridium's IoT strategy, the Iridium 9604 is moving the company beyond traditional satellite-only modules to a unified, multi-mode connectivity architecture. The Iridium network now offers customers three IoT service paths to follow:

• Iridium SBD packaged with cellular and GNSS in the Iridium 9604 or SBD/Iridium Burst dedicated modules
• Iridium NTN Direct for standards-based direct-to-device using third-party chips
• Iridium Messaging Transport-based (IMT^®) for industrial-scale, larger payload capabilities with the Iridium Certus 9704

The Iridium 9604, built on the u-blox SARA-R5 platform, delivers a compact 16 mm x 26 mm x 2.4 mm form factor, best for dual-mode IoT deployments previously cost-prohibitive across industrial, infrastructure, and mobility applications.

Commercial availability begins in June 2026 with the Iridium 9604 Development Kit made available for testing satellite and cellular services. Reserve priority access today: www.iridium.com/9604

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

About Iridium Communications Inc.

Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) operates the world's only truly global mobile satellite network, delivering reliable voice, data, and positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services anywhere on Earth. Iridium supports safety- and mission-critical operations for diverse markets such as aviation, maritime, government, emergency services, critical infrastructure, autonomous systems, and remote monitoring applications, where connectivity is essential.

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Iridium provides its products and services through an ecosystem of 500-plus partner companies around the world. For more information, visit www.iridium.com.

Forward-Looking Statements Disclosure

Statements in this press release 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, benefits and availability of the Iridium 9604, expected demand by developers and the suitability of the Iridium 9604 for dual-mode IoT deployments across industrial, infrastructure, and mobility applications. 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 timing of commercial availability of the Iridium 9604, 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, 2025, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 12, 2026, 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.

SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.