FAQs

Iridium Communications Inc. (formerly known as GHL Acquisition Corp.) was incorporated under the laws of the state of Delaware on November 2, 2007; completed its initial public offering on February 1, 2008; and initially listed its common stock, warrants and units on the NYSE AMEX under the symbols GHQ, GHQW and GHQU, respectively. On September 24, 2009, following shareholder approval of the acquisition by GHL Acquisition Corp. of Iridium Holdings LLC, GHL Acquisition Corp. began trading on NASDAQ under the IRDM trading symbol. At the closing of the acquisition on September 29, 2009, GHL Acquisition Corp. was renamed Iridium Communications Inc.

We provide voice and data communications services to businesses, the U.S. and foreign governments, non-governmental organizations and consumers. Our commercial end-user base, which we view as our primary growth engine, is diverse and includes markets such as emergency services, maritime, government, utilities, oil and gas, mining, leisure, forestry, construction and transportation. Many of our end-users view our products and services as critical to their daily operations and integral to their communications and business infrastructure. For example, multinational corporations in various sectors use our services for business telephony, e-mail and data transfer services and to provide mobile communications services for employees in areas inadequately served by terrestrial networks.

Please follow these links for a comprehensive list of all our products and services.

We provide this information in our Annual Report. Please visit our SEC Filings Archive to refer to our most recent annual report.

Background

On November 4, 2019, Iridium Satellite entered into a Credit Agreement with Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch as Administrative Agent and Collateral Agent, pursuant to which it borrowed $1.45 billion as a seven-year term loan, which it used to prepay its previous BPIAE Credit Facility. The Credit Agreement also provides for a $100 million, five-year revolving loan facility. The term loan initially bore interest at a per annum rate of LIBOR plus an interest rate margin of 3.75%, with a 1.0% LIBOR floor, and was issued at a discount of 0.5% to face value. The revolving facility initially had the same per annum rate, with a 0.0% LIBOR floor, no original issue discount, and a commitment fee of 0.5% per year on the undrawn amount. The Credit Agreement also provided for principal payments of 1% per year, with the remaining amount paid at maturity.

On February 7, 2020, the Company closed on an additional $200 million under the term loan. On February 13, 2020, the Company used these proceeds, together with cash on hand, to prepay all of the indebtedness outstanding under its 10.25% senior unsecured notes, including premiums for early prepayment. The additional amount borrowed under the term loan is fungible with the original $1.45 billion, having the same maturity date, interest rate and other terms, but was issued at a 1.0% premium to face value.

On July 28, 2021, Iridium Satellite entered into another amendment of its Credit Agreement. Pursuant to this Amendment, the interest rate was reduced to a per annum rate of LIBOR plus a margin of 2.50%, with a 0.75% LIBOR floor. The borrowings under the Credit Agreement, as amended by this Amendment, were issued at a discount of 0.25% to face value. All other material terms of the Credit Agreement remained the same.

On December 8, 2022, Iridium Satellite entered into a further amendment to replace the original LIBOR base rate with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), resulting in an annual rate of adjusted SOFR (SOFR plus 0.10%) plus 2.50%, with a 0.75% adjusted SOFR floor.

Current Term Loan Facility

On September 20, 2023, Iridium Satellite refinanced its previously existing term loan resulting in total borrowing of $1.50 billion and an accompanying $100.0 million revolving loan. The Term Loan was issued at a price equal to 99.75% of its face value and bore interest at an annual rate equal to SOFR plus 2.5%, with a 0.75% SOFR floor. The maturity date of the Term Loan is in September 2030. Interest is paid monthly on the last business day of the month. The Revolving Facility bears interest at the same rate (but without a SOFR floor) if and as drawn, with no original issue discount, a commitment fee of 0.5% per year on the undrawn amount, which is reduced to 0.375% if the Company has a consolidated first lien net leverage ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) of less than 3.5 to 1, and a maturity date in September 2028. Principal payments, payable quarterly, beginning with the quarter ending March 31, 2024, were $15.0 million per annum (equal to one percent of the full principal amount of the Term Loan), with the remaining principal due upon maturity.

On March 25, 2024, Iridium Satellite borrowed an additional $125 million of term loans on the same terms as the existing term loans, to fund the Company’s acquisition of Satelles, Inc. These term loan borrowings are fungible with the existing term loan borrowings. While the existing term loan borrowings were issued at a discount of 0.25% to face value, these term loan borrowings were issued with a discount of 0.125% to face value. Principal payments were increased to $16.25 million per annum (equal to one percent of the increased principal amount of the Term Loan), payable quarterly.

On April 23, 2024, Iridium Satellite borrowed $50 million under the revolving facility, which it used to fund additional share repurchases pursuant to its previously announced share repurchase program.

Most recently, on June 4, 2024, Iridium Satellite entered into an amendment of its Credit Agreement. Pursuant to this Amendment, the interest rate on the term loan, but not the revolving facility, was reduced to a per annum rate of SOFR plus a margin of 2.25%, with a 0.75% SOFR floor. The borrowings under this repricing amendment were issued at par. All other material terms of the Credit Agreement remained the same.

Our headquarters is located in McLean, Virginia, but we have offices and network facilities around the world including Alaska, Arizona, Canada and Norway.