Rocket Lab shares jumped nearly 17% during Monday afternoon trading after announcing that it has agreed to buy Iridium Communications in an $8 billion cash-and-stock deal. Last year, Iridium generated $872 million in revenue and $114 million in net income. (Iridium rose almost 25% as the market reacted to the takeover premium).
This deal gives RKLB access to a global satellite network, wireless spectrum, and an established customer base, in what looks like a bid to tangentially compete against Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
SpaceX operates a satellite network far larger than Iridium’s, with roughly 10,000 satellites in orbit. Iridium operates a network of 66 low-Earth-orbit satellites but creates a more vertically integrated space company in RKLB.
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