MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced that it has been awarded a 5-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency on behalf of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSpC) with potential revenues up to $76 million.  Known as the Gateway Evolution Contract (GEC), this contract enables ongoing innovation and critical enhancements for the U.S. Government's dedicated Iridium gateway.  It will enable adoption of the latest technology upgrades, both hardware and software, necessary to address emerging warfighter requirements and to ensure continued operations with the latest state-of-the-art satcom-based capabilities.

The GEC is one of a trio of Iridium government gateway related contracts, which also includes the Gateway Maintenance and Support Service contract (GMSS), which is responsible for ensuring day-to-day peak operational performance of the facility, and the Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services Airtime Contract (EMSS), which provides unlimited voice, text and data services to the Department of Defense (DoD) and associated federal government partners through the government gateway.  The previous iteration of the GEC was known as the Gateway Modernization Efforts contract (GME) and enabled the U.S. Government to make the investments necessary to take full of advantage of Iridium's now recently completed satellite constellation upgrade campaign, known as Iridium^® NEXT.

"With the completion of Iridium NEXT, new services and capabilities are constantly being designed and developed by Iridium and our ecosystem of partners," said Scott Scheimreif, executive vice president, government programs, Iridium. "The GEC allows the U.S. Government to upgrade their gateway as they see fit, in order to take advantage of these new capabilities, including those yet to be invented. It is yet another example of a truly successful public/private partnership between Iridium and the Department of Defense as we collectively explore new ways to take advantage of our unique low-earth-orbiting satellite network."

As the only satellite communications network with truly global coverage, the Iridium constellation provides real-time, two-way voice, data, messaging, narrowband, midband and broadband services.  This includes the Iridium Certus^® L-band communications platform offering IP-based services through small form factor antennas and terminals, initially for maritime and land-mobile applications. The platform offers an enterprise-wide solution with the flexibility to scale both device sizes and speeds up or down based on the needs of the end-user.

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

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 potential revenues and services to be provided under the GEC. 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 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.