MCLEAN, Va., June 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) announced today that the Iridium CertusSM service will be commercially available in the second quarter of 2017.  This next-generation, satellite broadband communications service will serve users and enterprises across all industry verticals delivering a portfolio of global voice and data services.

"We are very excited to see this service come to fruition," said Matt Desch, chief executive officer at Iridium. "Iridium Certus is a game-changing new service for users in the maritime, land mobile, aeronautical and government markets in that it will provide unparalleled quality, coverage and performance in a single, multi-service terminal, and at a great value. Iridium Certus is in response to industry demands for alternative broadband solutions that have persisted for several years, and we are looking forward to redefining the mobile satellite market landscape with this launch."

Iridium Certus is an advanced, multi-service communications platform that will improve business operations by delivering higher-quality services to market at a greater value. It is poised to enable the fastest and most reliable L-band mobile satellite service for customers of all kinds, regardless of industry.  Leveraging the robustness and reliability of the Iridium® network, Iridium Certus is a versatile service, delivering broadband communications to meet user needs as a standalone option or alongside VSAT solutions. The service will support a wide range of partner products targeted to the specific needs of maritime, land mobile, aviation and government users.

"We are very enthusiastic about the progress being made toward reaching this key milestone and are looking forward to seeing users begin to take advantage of the enhanced capabilities enabled by Iridium Certus," said Bryan Hartin, vice president of sales and marketing at Iridium. "Customers can look forward to a portfolio of products, serving all vertical markets, coming from our industry-leading manufacturing partners, including Cobham, L-3, Thales and Rockwell Collins."

Iridium Certus will be powered by Iridium NEXT, the company's next-generation low-earth orbit satellite constellation scheduled to begin launching this summer. Once fully deployed, Iridium Certus will eventually deliver speeds up to 1.4 megabits per second over L-band spectrum.  Iridium has partnered with SpaceX for its series of seven launches, with ten Iridium NEXT satellites deployed at a time, on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.  For more information about Iridium Certus, please visit https://www.iridium.com/company/industryleadership/iridiumcertus.

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 a major development program underway for its next-generation network — Iridium NEXT. 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 presentation include statements regarding the development and capabilities of the Iridium NEXT constellation and Iridium Certus. 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 development and functionality of Iridium NEXT and Iridium Certus, potential delays in the Iridium NEXT deployment, 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, 2015, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("the SEC") on February 25, 2016, 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:
Diane Hockenberry
Iridium Communications Inc.
+1 (703) 287-7421
Diane.Hockenberry@iridium.com