MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced Lars Thrane A/S as the newest Iridium Certus terminal manufacturer and together unveiled the LT-4200 maritime satcom system. The new terminal will be one of the first to support the Iridium Certus 200 service class, that features upload and download speeds of up to 176 Kbps over Iridium's L-band network.  It is designed for demanding maritime environments, such as those experienced by fishing vessels and other workboats, that desire faster speeds but want to avoid the coverage limitations, terminal sizes and costs associated with existing competitive options.

The terminal has also been designed to support Iridium's future Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) services, in addition to other regulatory safety and security services including Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) and Ship Security Alert System (SSAS). The system has a range of interfaces making integration simple and offers a simple upgrade path from legacy solutions as well as greenfield opportunities for Iridium Certus partners.

"The Iridium Certus 200 service class addresses a very specific market niche in the maritime industry, but that niche includes a large number of vessels such as commercial fishing boats, workboats, coastal shipping and leisure craft," said Wouter Deknopper, vice president & general manager, maritime line of business at Iridium. "The new LT-4200 from Lars Thrane is a smaller, lighter, faster and cost-competitive option when compared to the closest alternative in the market. As a result, Iridium and our partners are once again bringing a new and superior option to the maritime industry."

"The LT-4200 maritime satcom product is an important product for Lars Thrane, which allows us to offer our customers a compact and competitive L-band product with faster bandwidth and maritime performance specifications, which will satisfy most requirements for a maritime product in this class," said Peter Thrane, CEO of Lars Thrane. "We look forward sharing more details about this product in the near future."

Made possible by 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 only possible through Iridium's crosslinked L-band network. The service offers the flexibility to scale device speeds, sizes and power requirements both up and down based on the needs of the end-user.

About 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.  The company has recently completed its next-generation 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

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 timing of introduction, capabilities and benefits of products and services enabled by the Iridium constellation, including Iridium Certus and GMDSS. 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, 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, 2018, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 28, 2019, 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.