MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced six beta partners for its newest out-of-the-box satellite IoT device, the Iridium Edge Solar – an intelligent, secure and maintenance-free solar-powered remote asset management device with over-the-air configuration capabilities.  The six companies selected to participate in beta testing include CLS Telemetry,  Everywhere Communications, Marlink, M2M Connectivity, Rock Seven, and Tesacom.  These companies represent some of the most innovative of the over 450 partners that are licensed to create Iridium^® network-based solutions.

As part of this process, Iridium Edge Solar is undergoing a multi-continent deployment that will push the device's limits for applications including Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), fisheries management, asset tracking including freight and containers, oil and gas and heavy equipment telematics data reporting.  In addition, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-enabled smart device applications are being tested to allow users to maintain remote asset management and monitoring from their smartphone and/or tablet.  Unlike competitive satellite GPS tracking products, Iridium Edge Solar enables real-time, two-way communication, over-the-air configuration changes and local wireless capabilities over BLE – anywhere in the world.

"The Iridium Edge Solar is the new gold standard for the solar-powered satellite IoT device world, but at an incredibly cost-effective rate," said Bryan Hartin, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Iridium. "Our beta partners will be pushing the device to its limits in a wide array of environments, ensuring it meets the industry-leading quality and reliability standards for which Iridium is known."

Hartin continued, "Iridium's partners play a pivotal role in bringing our new technologies to market and we're looking forward to commercially launching Iridium Edge Solar with their help before the end of 2020."

Traditionally, solar-powered asset tracking devices have faced several challenges that would limit field life and result in questionable reliability.  Through complete encapsulation of vital electronics, the Iridium Edge Solar conquers common problems such as water intrusion, limited operating temperature, long-term reliability or degraded battery capacity over time.  With military-grade ruggedized packaging and an innovative dual-power system, the Iridium Edge Solar combines solar rechargeable batteries with a separate high-capacity battery ensuring data delivery even in low-light conditions. 

When combined with Iridium's truly global coverage, and services like Iridium CloudConnect, which simplifies integration with Amazon Web Services, any organization will be able to rapidly scale and deploy a reliable, solar-powered asset-tracking device anywhere on the planet for up to 10 years without maintenance. 

This new product expands Iridium's portfolio of IoT devices beyond the company's 2017 debut finished product, Iridium Edge, with both products supporting complementary but equally important use-cases extending connectivity beyond the reach of cellular coverage.  As of the second quarter of 2020, Iridium commercial IoT subscribers grew 20% from the year-ago period to 863,000 customers, further cementing the company's place as the premier satellite IoT company.

For more information about Iridium Edge Solar, visit: www.iridium.com/iridiumedgesolar

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. In 2019, the company completed a generational upgrade of its 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 the Iridium Edge Solar device. 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 products and 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, 2019, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 25, 2020, and the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020, as filed with the SEC on July 28, 2020, 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.

Press Contact:
Jordan Hassin
Iridium Communications Inc.
Jordan.Hassin@Iridium.com
+1 (703) 287-7421
Twitter: @Iridiumcomm

Investor Contact:
Kenneth Levy
Iridium Communications Inc.
Ken.Levy@Iridium.com
+1 (703) 287-7570

SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.