Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011
Table of Contents

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 10-K

 

 

(Mark One)

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010

OR

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from             to             

Commission File Number 001-33963

 

 

Iridium Communications Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   26-1344998

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

1750 Tysons Boulevard, Suite 1400, McLean, Virginia 22102

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

703-287-7400

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

 

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of Each Class

 

Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered

Common Stock, $0.001 par value   NASDAQ Global Select Market
Units, each consisting of one share of Common Stock and one Warrant   NASDAQ Global Select Market
Warrants, exercisable for Common Stock at an exercise price of $7.00 per share   NASDAQ Global Select Market
Warrants, exercisable for Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share   NASDAQ Global Select Market

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  ¨    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer   ¨   Accelerated filer   x
Non-accelerated filer   ¨ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)   Smaller Reporting Company   ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold as of June 30, 2010 was approximately $343.9 million.

The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding as of March 4, 2011 was 70,253,601.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS INC.

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

Year ended December 31, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

          Page
No.
 

PART I

  

Item 1.

   Business      1   

Item 1A.

   Risk Factors      20   

Item 1B.

   Unresolved Staff Comments      34   

Item 2.

   Properties      35   

Item 3.

   Legal Proceedings      35   

Item 4.

   Removed and Reserved      35   

PART II

  

Item 5.

   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities      35   

Item 6.

   Selected Financial Data      37   

Item 7.

   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations      39   

Item 7A.

   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk      58   

Item 8.

   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data      59   

Item 9.

   Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure      108   

Item 9A.

   Controls and Procedures      108   

Item 9B.

   Other Information      110   

PART III

  

Item 10.

   Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance      110   

Item 11.

   Executive Compensation      119   

Item 12.

   Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters      138   

Item 13.

   Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence      140   

Item 14.

   Principal Accountant Fees and Services      141   

PART IV

     

Item 15.

   Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules      141   

SIGNATURES

     146   


Table of Contents

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include those that express plans, anticipation, intent, contingencies, goals, targets or future development or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and projections about future events, and they are subject to risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. The important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in this Form 10-K could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements made herein. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

PART I

 

Item 1.    Business

Corporate Background

We were formed as GHL Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, in November 2007, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination. On February 21, 2008, we consummated our initial public offering. On September 29, 2009, we acquired, directly and indirectly, all the outstanding equity of Iridium Holdings LLC, or Iridium Holdings, and changed our name from GHL Acquisition Corp. to Iridium Communications Inc. We refer to this transaction as the Acquisition.

Iridium Holdings was formed under the laws of Delaware in 2000, and on December 11, 2000, Iridium Holdings, through its wholly owned subsidiary Iridium Satellite LLC, or Iridium Satellite, acquired certain satellite assets from Iridium LLC, a non-affiliated debtor in possession, pursuant to an asset purchase agreement. We refer to Iridium Holdings, together with its direct and indirect subsidiaries, as Iridium.

Throughout this section, when we refer to statistical or financial data for the year ended December 31, 2009, such as revenues, percentages of revenues and number of subscribers, we are referring to Iridium Holdings prior to the Acquisition and Iridium Holdings combined with our company after the Acquisition. Statistical and financial data for years prior to 2009 refer to Iridium Holdings.

Business Overview

We are the second largest provider of mobile voice and data communications services via satellite based on revenue, and the only commercial provider of communications services offering 100% global coverage. Our satellite network provides communications services to regions of the world where existing wireless or wireline networks do not exist or are limited, including remote land areas, open ocean, the polar regions and regions where the telecommunications infrastructure has been affected by political conflicts or natural disasters.

We provide voice and data communications services to businesses, the U.S. and foreign governments, non-governmental organizations and consumers via our constellation of 66 in-orbit satellites, in-orbit spares and related ground infrastructure, including a primary commercial gateway. We utilize an interlinked mesh architecture to route traffic across our satellite constellation using radio frequency crosslinks between satellites. This unique architecture minimizes the need for ground facilities to support the constellation, which facilitates the global reach of our services and allows us to offer services in countries and regions where we have no physical presence.

Our commercial end-user base, which we view as our primary growth engine, is diverse and includes markets such as emergency services, maritime, government, utilities, oil and gas, mining, leisure, forestry, construction and transportation. Many of our end-users view our products and services as critical to their daily operations and integral to their communications and business infrastructure. For example, multinational corporations in various sectors use our services for business telephony, e-mail and data transfer services and to provide mobile communications services for employees in areas inadequately served by terrestrial networks. Ship crews and passengers use our services for ship-to-shore calling as well as to send and receive e-mail and data files, and to receive electronic media, weather reports, emergency bulletins and electronic charts. Shipping operators use our services to manage operations on board ships and to transmit data, such as course, speed and fuel stock. Aviation-based end-users use our services for air-to-ground telephony and data communications for email, emergency tracking, weather information, electronic flight bag updates and fleet information.

The U.S. government, directly and indirectly, has been and continues to be our largest single customer, generating $78.7 million in service and engineering and support service revenue, or 23% of our total revenues, for the year ended December 31, 2010. The U.S. Department of Defense, or DoD, owns and operates a dedicated gateway in Hawaii that is only compatible with our satellite network. The U.S. armed services, State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, Customs and Border Protection, and other U.S. government agencies, as well as other nations’ governmental agencies, use our voice and data services for a wide variety of applications. Our voice and data products are used for numerous primary and backup communications solutions, including logistical, administrative, morale and welfare, tactical and emergency communications. In addition, our products are installed in ground vehicles, ships, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and are used for command and control and situational awareness purposes. Our satellite network provides increased network security to the DoD because traffic is routed across our satellite constellation before being brought down to earth through the dedicated, secure DoD gateway, thus reducing the vulnerability to electronic jamming and interception. Since our network was created in the mid-1990s, the DoD has made significant investments to build and upgrade its dedicated gateway and to purchase our handsets and voice and data devices, all of which are only compatible with our satellite network. In addition, the DoD, directly and indirectly with private companies, continues to invest in additional applications on our network such as high integrity GPS, or iGPS, and Distributed Tactical Communications Services, which we refer to as Netted Iridium. The DoD would have to incur significant expense to replicate our network architecture and replace our voice and data services with a competing service provider.

 

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We sell our products and services to commercial end-users exclusively through a wholesale distribution network, encompassing approximately 71 service providers, 158 value-added resellers, or VARs, and 53 value-added manufacturers, or VAMs, which sell either directly to the end-user or indirectly through other service providers, VARs or dealers. These distributors often integrate our products and services with other complementary hardware and software and have developed a broad suite of applications for our products and services targeting specific vertical markets. We expect that demand for our services will increase as more applications are developed for our products and services.

At December 31, 2010, we had approximately 427,000 billable subscribers worldwide, representing a 24.9% increase compared to December 31, 2009. Total revenues increased from $318.9 million in 2009 to $348.2 million in 2010.

Industry

We compete in the mobile satellite services sector of the global communications industry. Mobile satellite services operators provide voice and data services to people and machines on the move or in fixed locations using a network of satellites and ground facilities. Mobile satellite services are usually complementary to, and interconnected with, other forms of terrestrial communications services and infrastructure and are intended to respond to users’ desires for connectivity in all locations. Customers typically use satellite voice and data communications in situations where existing terrestrial wireline and wireless communications networks do not exist or are impaired. Further, many regions of the world benefit from satellite networks, such as rural and developing areas that lack adequate wireless or wireline networks, ocean and polar regions where few alternatives exist, and regions where the telecommunications infrastructure has been affected by political conflicts or natural disasters.

Government organizations, military and intelligence agencies, natural disaster aid associations, event-driven response agencies and corporate security teams depend on mobile and fixed voice and data satellite communications services on a regular basis. Businesses with global operations require reliable communications services when operating in remote locations around the world. Mobile satellite services users span many sectors, including emergency services, maritime, government, utilities, oil and gas, mining, leisure, forestry, construction and transportation, among others. Many of our customers view satellite communications services as critical to their daily operations.

We believe that increasing penetration and continued growth of the terrestrial wireless industry will provide a significant market opportunity for the mobile satellite services industry. According to a report produced by Wireless Intelligence for the GSM Association, there were 5 billion global cellular subscribers throughout the world as of July 2010. We believe that growth in the terrestrial wireless industry has increased awareness of the need for reliable mobile voice and data communications services. In addition, despite significant penetration and competition, terrestrial wireless systems only serve a small fraction of the earth’s surface and are focused mainly in those areas where people live, excluding oceans and other remote regions where ships, airplanes and other remote assets transit or are located. By offering mobile communications services with global voice and data coverage, mobile satellite service providers address the demand from businesses, governments and individuals for connectivity and reliability in locations not consistently served by wireline and wireless terrestrial networks. In a 2010 report, Northern Sky Research indicated that it expected wholesale revenues for mobile satellite services to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10% over the five-year period from 2010 to 2015.

The mobile satellite services industry also benefits from the continued development of innovative, lower cost technology and applications integrating mobile satellite products and services. We believe that growth in demand for mobile satellite services is driven in large part by the declining cost of these services, the diminishing size and lower costs of voice, data and machine-to-machine, or M2M, devices, as well as the rollout of new applications tailored to the specific needs of customers across a variety of markets.

Communications industry sectors include:

 

   

mobile satellite services, which provide customers with voice and data connectivity to mobile and fixed devices using ground facilities and networks of geostationary, or GEO, satellites, which are located approximately 22,300 miles above the equator, medium earth orbit satellites, which orbit between approximately 6,400 and 10,000 miles above the earth’s surface, or low earth orbit, or LEO, satellites, such as those in our constellation, which orbit between approximately 300 and 1,000 miles above the earth’s surface;

 

   

fixed satellite services, which use GEO satellites to provide customers with broadband communications links between fixed points on the earth’s surface; and

 

   

terrestrial services, which use a terrestrial network to provide wireless or wireline connectivity and are complementary to satellite services.

 

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Within the major satellite sectors, fixed satellite services and mobile satellite services operators differ significantly from each other with respect to size of antenna, types of services offered and quality of services. Fixed satellite services providers, such as Intelsat S.A., Eutelsat Communications S.A. and SES S.A. are characterized by large, often stationary or fixed ground terminals that send and receive high-bandwidth signals to and from the satellite network for video and high speed data customers and international telephone markets. By contrast, mobile satellite services providers, such as us, Inmarsat plc, or Inmarsat, Globalstar, Inc., or Globalstar, and ORBCOMM Inc., or ORBCOMM, focus more on voice and data services, where mobility and small sized terminals are essential.

A LEO system, such as the system we operate, generally has lower transmission delays than a GEO system such as that operated by Inmarsat due to the shorter distance signals have to travel, which also enables the use of smaller antennas on devices. We believe the interlinked mesh architecture of our constellation combined with the global footprint of our satellites distinguishes us from other regional LEO satellite operators like Globalstar and ORBCOMM, allowing us to route voice and data transmissions to and from anywhere on the earth’s surface via a single gateway. As a result, we are the only mobile satellite services operator offering real-time, low latency services with 100% global coverage. Furthermore, we are the only mobile satellite service provider with full coverage of the polar regions.

Our Competitive Strengths

 

   

Only commercial provider with 100% global coverage. Our LEO satellite network offers 100% global coverage. None of our LEO or GEO competitors offer such coverage. Our satellite network relies on an interlinked mesh architecture to transmit signals, which reduces the need for multiple ground stations and facilitates the global reach of our services. Other satellite service providers use an architecture commonly referred to as bent pipe, which requires voice and data transmissions to be immediately routed to nearby ground stations, thereby limiting their ability to provide global coverage. As a result, we believe that we are well-positioned to capitalize on the growth in our industry from end-users who require reliable communications service in all locations.

 

   

High quality and reliable voice and data services. We believe we offer high quality and reliable voice and data services. The LEO design of our satellite constellation produces minimal transmission delays relative to GEO systems due to its comparatively close proximity to earth and the shorter distance our signals have to travel. Additionally, LEO systems typically have smaller handset antenna requirements and are less prone to signal blockage caused by terrain than GEO satellite networks.

 

   

Solutions for a broad range of vertical markets. We have created additional demand for our products and services and expanded our target market by partnering with our distributors to develop new products, services and applications. The specialized needs of our global end-users span many markets, including emergency services, maritime, government, utilities, oil and gas, mining, leisure, forestry, construction and transportation. Our communications solutions have become an integral part of the communications and business infrastructure of many of our end-users. In many cases, our service provides the only connectivity solution for these applications, and our products are often integrated by the original manufacturers or in the aftermarket into expensive machinery, such as military equipment and sophisticated monitoring devices.

 

   

Strategic relationship with the DoD. The U.S. government is our largest single customer, and we have had a relationship with the DoD since 2000. Our 9505A satellite handset is the only commercially available mobile handheld satellite phone that is capable of Type I encryption accredited by the U.S. National Security Agency for Top Secret voice communications. In addition, the DoD has made significant investments to build a dedicated gateway on a U.S. government site to provide operational security and allow DoD handset users to communicate with other U.S. government security communications equipment. This gateway is only compatible with our satellite network.

 

   

Large, value-added wholesale distribution network. We sell our products and services to commercial end-users exclusively through a wholesale distribution network of approximately 71 service providers, 158 VARs and 53 VAMs. By relying on distributors to manage end-user sales, we believe that our distribution model leverages their expertise in marketing to their target customers while lowering overall customer acquisition costs and mitigating certain risks such as consumer credit risk. Our distributors further support our growth by developing new applications and solutions that utilize our products and services, often combining our products with other technologies, such as GPS and terrestrial wireless technology, to provide integrated communications solutions for their target customers.

 

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Our Business and Growth Strategies

 

   

Leverage our largely fixed cost infrastructure by growing our service revenues. Our business model is characterized by high capital costs, primarily incurred every 10 to 15 years, in connection with designing, building and launching our satellite constellation. However, the incremental cost of providing service to additional end-users is relatively low. We believe that service revenues will be our largest source of future growth and profits, and we intend to focus on growing both our commercial and government service revenues in order to leverage our largely fixed cost infrastructure.

 

   

Develop new products and services for commercial markets to further expand and penetrate our target markets. We expect that our current and future value added partners will continue to develop tailor-made products, services and applications targeted to the land-based handset, maritime, aviation and M2M markets. We believe these markets represent an attractive opportunity for subscriber growth. We expect the continued development of Netted Iridium, which provides mobile, beyond-line-of-sight, push-to-talk capability for user-defined groups, or nets, to provide us with new applications in commercial markets such as public safety, fishing and field worker communications. The iGPS technology we have developed with a partner may enable new commercial applications in enhanced navigation services such as precision farming, high accuracy navigation for oil and gas exploration and construction services. We also expect additional growth opportunities within the industrial and consumer personal locator beacon, or PLB, markets. In addition, our partners regularly develop specialized end-user applications targeted at specific markets. For example, new partners, such as ACR Electronics, Inc., DeLorme Publishing Company Inc. and Xact Technology, LLC, are developing two-way personal tracking and safety applications and devices that we expect to further accelerate our growth in the M2M sector.

 

   

Expand our geographic sales reach. Our products and services are offered in over 100 countries. While our network can be used throughout the world, we are not currently licensed to sell our products and services directly in certain countries, including Russia, China and India. We are currently in discussions with regulatory officials in these and other countries to obtain licenses and, to the extent we are successful in obtaining such licenses, we believe the expanded reach of our product and service distribution platform will contribute to our growth.

 

   

Develop new services for the DoD. We are developing additional capabilities for our network to enhance its utility to the DoD. In conjunction with the U.S. Navy, we have developed and introduced Netted Iridium, which provides beyond-line-of-sight, push-to-talk voice services to a user-defined group of DoD users. We are also developing capabilities that will enable iGPS service, which is expected to provide enhanced accuracy and anti-jamming capabilities. These and other services in development leverage U.S. government research and development investment and provide us with opportunities to offer new products and services to the DoD. We anticipate continued growth in M2M applications within the DoD and government space, as new and existing VARs and VAMs design applications around the Iridium 9602 short-burst data modem and related technologies.

 

   

Develop Iridium NEXT constellation. We are developing our next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT, which we expect to begin launching in early 2015. Iridium NEXT will be backward compatible with our current system and will replace the existing constellation with a more powerful satellite network. Iridium NEXT will maintain our current system’s key attributes, including the capability to upload new software, while providing new and enhanced capabilities, such as higher data speeds and increased capacity. In addition, Iridium NEXT will be designed to host secondary payloads, which have the potential to generate cash and deferred revenue during the construction phase of Iridium NEXT and the potential to generate recurring revenues once Iridium NEXT is launched. We believe Iridium NEXT’s increased capabilities will expand our target markets by enabling us to develop and offer a broader range of products and services, including a wider array of cost-effective and competitive broadband data services.

Distribution Channels

We sell our products and services to customers through a wholesale distribution network of approximately 71 service providers, 158 VARs and 53 VAMs. These distributors sell our products and services to the end-user, either directly or indirectly through service providers, VARs or dealers. Of these distributors, approximately 25 sell primarily to U.S. and international government customers. Our distributors often integrate our products and services with other complementary hardware and software and have developed individual solutions targeting specific vertical markets. We also sell airtime services directly to U.S. government customers, including the DoD, for resale to end users. The U.S. government and international government agencies purchase additional services as well as our products and related applications through our network of distributors.

We provide our distributors with certain support services, including assistance with coordinating end-user sales, strategic planning and training and second tier customer support, as well as helping them respond to new opportunities for our products and services. We have representatives covering three regions around the world to better manage our distributor

 

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relationships: the Americas, which includes North, South and Central America; Asia Pacific, which includes Australia and Asia; and Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Russia. We have also established a global support service program to provide portside service for Iridium OpenPort customers at major ports worldwide. In addition, we maintain various online management tools that allow us to communicate efficiently with our distributors. By relying on our distributors to manage end-user sales, we believe that we reduce certain risks and costs related to our business, such as consumer credit risk and sales and marketing costs, while providing a broad and expanding distribution network for our products and services with access to diverse and geographically dispersed niche markets. We are also able to rely on the specialized expertise of our distributors, who continue to develop innovative and improved solutions and applications integrating our product and service offerings, providing us with an attractive platform to support our growth.

Commercial Markets

We view our commercial end-user base as our primary growth engine. Service providers and VARs serve as our main distribution channel by purchasing our products and services and marketing them directly to their customers or indirectly through independent dealers. They are each responsible for customer billing, end-user customer care, managing credit risk and maintaining all customer account information. If our service providers or VARs provide our services through dealers, these dealers will often provide such services directly to the end-user. Service providers typically purchase our most basic products and services, such as mobile voice services and related satellite handsets, and offer additional services such as voice mail. Unlike service providers, our VARs provide a broader array of value-added services specifically targeted to the niche markets they serve, integrating our handsets, transceivers, high-speed data devices and short-burst data modems with other hardware and software to create packaged solutions for end-users. Examples of these applications include cockpit voice and data solutions for use by the aviation sector and voice, data and tracking applications for industrial customers, the DoD and other U.S. and international government agencies. Many of our VARs specialize in niche vertical markets such as maritime, aviation, M2M and government markets where high-use customers with specialized needs are concentrated. Our principal service providers include dedicated satellite service providers such as Vizada Inc. and Vizada SAS, or Vizada, and Stratos Global Wireless Inc., or Stratos, as well as some of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, including Telstra Corporation Limited, KDDI Corporation and Singapore Telecommunications Limited. Our VARs and service providers include ARINC Incorporated, General Dynamics Corporation, or General Dynamics, NAL Research Corporation, Zunibal S.A. and Globe Wireless LLC.

We also sell our products to VAMs, who integrate our transceivers and short-burst data devices into their propriety hardware and software. These VAMs produce specialized equipment, including integrated ship communications systems, global asset tracking devices and secure satellite handsets, such as our Iridium 9505A handset coupled with U.S. National Security Agency Type I encryption capability, which they offer to end-users in maritime, government and M2M markets. As with our service providers and VARs, VAMs sell their product solutions either directly or through other distributors, including some of our service providers and VARs. VAMs sell services on the product solutions to end-users only through other partners. Our VAMs include AirCell Inc., ITT Corporation, General Dynamics, Thrane & Thrane A/S and Quake Global, Inc.

In addition to VARs and VAMs, we maintain relationships with approximately 36 value-added developers, or VADs. We typically provide technical information to these companies on our products and services, which they then use to develop new software and hardware that complements our products and services in line with the specifications of our VARs and VAMs. These products include handset docking stations, airline tracking and flight management applications and crew e-mail applications for the maritime industry. We believe that working with VADs allows us to create new platforms for our products and services and increases our market opportunity while reducing our overall research and development expenses. Our VADs include Active Web Solutions Inc. and Ontec Inc.

We maintain a pricing model for our commercial products and services with a consistent wholesale rate structure. Under our distribution agreements, we charge our distributors wholesale rates for commercial products and services, subject to discount and promotional arrangements and geographic pricing. We also charge fixed monthly access fees per subscriber for certain services. Our distributors are in turn responsible for setting their own pricing to their customers. Our agreements with distributors typically have terms of one year and are automatically renewable for additional one year terms, subject to termination rights. We believe this business model provides incentives for distributors to focus on selling our commercial product and service portfolio and developing additional applications. An additional benefit of this model is simplicity. This model lessens back office complexities and costs and allows distributors to remain focused on revenue generation.

Our two largest distributors, Stratos and Vizada, represented 10% and 9%, respectively, of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010.

 

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Government Markets

We provide mission critical mobile satellite products and services to all military branches of the DoD as well as other U.S. government customers. These users require voice and two way data capability with global coverage, low latency, mobility and security and often have no alternate terrestrial communication capability, or rely on mobile satellite services as an important backup system. We believe we are well positioned to take advantage of increased demand from such users. Our 9505A satellite handset is the only commercially available mobile handheld satellite phone that is capable of Type I encryption accredited by the U.S. National Security Agency for Top Secret voice communications. In addition, the DoD has made significant investments to build a dedicated gateway to provide operational security and allow DoD handset users to communicate with other U.S. government security communications equipment. This gateway is only compatible with our satellite network.

We provide airtime and airtime support to U.S. government customers pursuant to an Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services, or EMSS, contract managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency, or DISA, which administers the contract on behalf of DoD and other U.S. government and international customers authorized by DoD to use EMSS services. The contract, entered into in April 2008, provides for a one-year base term and up to four additional one-year options exercisable at the election of the U.S. government. The current term of the EMSS contract will expire on March 31, 2011, subject to further extension by the U.S. government. The U.S. government has notified us that it intends to exercise the third additional one-year option, which will extend the term through March 2012. Under this agreement, we provide U.S. government customers bulk access to our airtime services through the DoD’s dedicated gateway, receiving from subscribers (i) fixed monthly fees on a per user basis for airtime services and voice usage, (ii) fixed monthly fee per user for paging services, (iii) a tiered pricing plan, based on usage per device, for data services, (iv) a fixed monthly fee on a per user basis for Netted Iridium usage, and (v) a monthly fee for active user-defined groups using Netted Iridium. The U.S. government is not required to guarantee a minimum number of users pursuant to this agreement. Services furnished under the agreement include voice, netted voice, data, messaging and paging services. While we sell airtime directly to the U.S. government for resale to end users, our hardware products are sold to U.S. government customers through our network of distributors, which typically integrate them with other products and technologies.

We also provide maintenance services to the DoD’s dedicated gateway pursuant to the Gateway Maintenance and Support Services Agreement, or GMSSA, a separate contract managed by DISA, which also was entered into in April 2008. As with the EMSS contract, the GMSSA provides for a one-year base term and up to four additional one-year options exercisable at the election of the U.S. government. The current term of the maintenance contract will expire on March 31, 2011, subject to further extension by the U.S. government. The U.S. government has notified us that it intends to exercise the third additional one-year option, which will extend the term through March 2012. The U.S. government may terminate the EMSS and GMSSA contracts, in whole or in part, at any time.

U.S. government services accounted for approximately 23% of our total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2010. Our U.S. government revenue includes revenue derived from the EMSS and GMSSA contracts as well as other contract revenue related to research and development projects with the DoD. Such revenues do not include equipment or services to U.S. government agencies, including the DoD and FEMA, purchased through our distributors and offered through our commercial gateway. They also do not include revenues from services to most non-U.S. government agencies worldwide, including defense agencies. We consider such services commercial services, as they are provided through our commercial gateway. Although we cannot determine the amount of U.S. government revenues derived from our commercial gateway, we do not believe that such revenues are, individually or in the aggregate, material.

Vertical Markets

The specialized needs of our global customers span many markets. Our system is able to offer our customers cost-effective communications solutions with 100% global coverage in areas underserved or unserved by existing telecommunications infrastructure. Our mission critical communications solutions have become an integral part of the communications and business infrastructure of many of our end-users. In many cases, our service is the only connectivity for these critical applications or is used to complement terrestrial communications solutions.

Our current principal vertical markets include land-based handset, maritime, aviation, M2M and government.

Land-based Handset

We are one of the leading providers of mobile satellite communications services to the land-based handset sector, providing handset services to areas not served or inconsistently served by existing terrestrial communications networks. In a 2010 report, Northern Sky Research estimated that approximately 650,000 satellite handsets were in operation worldwide in 2009. Mining, forestry, construction, oil and gas, utilities, heavy industry and transport companies as well as the military, public safety and disaster relief agencies constitute the largest portion of our land-based handset end-users. We believe that demand for mobile communications devices operating outside the coverage of terrestrial networks, combined with our small, lightweight, durable handsets with 100% global coverage, will allow us to capitalize on growth opportunities among such users.

 

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Our land-based handset end-users utilize our satellite communications services for:

 

   

Voice and data: Multinational corporations in various sectors use our services for business telephony, e-mail and data transfer services and to provide pay telephony services for employees in areas inadequately served by terrestrial networks. Oil and gas and mining companies, for example, provide their personnel with our equipment solutions while surveying new drilling and mining opportunities and for conducting routine operations in remote areas that are not served by terrestrial wireless communications networks. In addition, a number of recreational, scientific and other outdoor segments rely on our mobile handheld satellite phones and services for use when beyond terrestrial wireless coverage.

 

   

Mobile and remote office connectivity: A variety of enterprises use our services to make and receive voice calls, and make data, e-mail, internet and corporate network connections.

 

   

Public safety and disaster relief: Relief agencies, such as FEMA, and other agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security have built our products and services into their emergency response plans, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma and Ike, the Asian tsunami, the Haitian and Chilean earthquakes and other natural disasters. These agencies generate significant demand for both our voice and data products, especially in advance of the hurricane season in North America.

 

   

Public telephone infrastructure: Telecommunications service providers use our services to satisfy regulatory mandates to provide communications services to rural populations currently not served by terrestrial infrastructure. Telstra Corporation, for example, uses our services to comply with its obligations to provide communications services to customers in certain remote parts of Australia.

Maritime

We believe the maritime market is one of our most significant market opportunities. End-users of our services in the maritime sector include companies engaged in merchant shipping, passenger transport, fishing, energy and leisure. Merchant shipping accounts for a significant portion of our maritime revenues, as those ships spend the majority of their time at sea away from coastal areas and out of reach of terrestrial communications services. Our products and services targeting the maritime market typically have high average revenue per subscriber with multiple users utilizing a single device. Once a system is installed on a vessel, it often generates a long-term recurring revenue stream from the customer. As a consequence, from time to time we may offer equipment free or below our costs to promote new activations.

We believe increased regulatory mandates and increased demand for higher-speed, low-cost data services will allow us to capitalize on significant growth opportunities in this market. We believe Iridium OpenPort, which offers speeds of up to 128 kbps and up to three independent voice lines, presents a cost-competitive, high-speed communication alternative to end-users in the maritime market.

Maritime end-users utilize our satellite communications services for the following:

 

   

Data and information applications: Ship operators and crew use our services to send and receive e-mail and data files, and to receive other information services such as electronic media, weather reports, emergency bulletins and electronic charts. We believe Iridium OpenPort provides an attractive alternative for shipping operators and fishing fleets looking for cost savings, as well as for yachts, work boats and other vessels for which traditional marine satellite systems have typically been costly and underperforming.

 

   

Voice services for crew: Maritime global voice services are used for both vessel operations and communications for crew welfare. Merchant shipping operators use prepaid phone cards for crew use at preferential around-the-clock flat rates.

 

   

Vessel management, procurement and asset tracking: Shipping operators, such as Exmar Shipmanagement N.V., Lauritzen Fleet Management A/S and Zodiac Shipping Ltd., use our services to manage operations on board ships and to transmit data, such as course, speed and fuel stock. Our services can be integrated with a global positioning system to provide a position reporting capability. Many fishing vessels are required by law to carry terminals using approved mobile satellite services for tracking purposes as well as to monitor catches and to ensure compliance with geographic fishing restrictions. European Union regulations, for example, require EU-registered fishing vessels of over 15 meters to carry terminals for the purpose of positional reporting of those vessels. Furthermore, new security regulations in certain jurisdictions are expected to require tracking of merchant vessels in territorial waters, which would provide an additional growth opportunity.

 

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Safety applications: Ships in distress, including as a result of potential piracy, hijack or terrorist activity, rely on mobile satellite voice and data services. The Ship Security and Alert Systems regulations were adopted by the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, to enhance maritime security in response to the threat from terrorism and piracy. Most deep-sea passenger and cargo ships must be fitted with a device that can send an alert message containing the ship’s ID and position whenever the ship is under threat or has been compromised. We and our partners are developing several solutions to meet this requirement for merchant vessels. The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, or GMDSS, is an application built to alert a maritime rescue coordination center of their situation and position, which then coordinates rescue efforts among ships in the area. The IMO requires all cargo vessels over 300 gross tons and certain passenger vessels, irrespective of size, that travel in international waters to carry distress and safety terminals that use GMDSS applications. Although our products and services are currently not certified to be used in GMDSS applications, we are currently exploring technological services that could meet the GMDSS requirements.

Aviation

We are one of the leading global providers of mobile satellite communications services to the general aviation sector, and our services are also used in commercial and military aviation applications. In the aviation sector, our satellite communications services are used principally by corporate jets, corporate and government helicopter fleets, specialized general aviation fleets, such as medevac companies and fire suppression and other specialized transport fleets, and high-end personal aircraft. Our services are also being employed by airline operators for passenger and cockpit voice services and safety applications. Our voice and data devices from our VAMs and VADs have become factory options for a range of airframe manufacturers and fractional operators in business aviation and air transport, such as NetJets Inc., Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Bombardier Inc., Cessna Aircraft Company and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A., and have become standard equipment on some of their aircraft fleets. Our devices are also installed in the aftermarket on a variety of aircraft.

Aviation end-users utilize our satellite communications services for:

 

   

Aviation operational communications: Aircraft crew and airline ground operations use our services for air-to-ground telephony and data communications. This includes the automatic reporting of an aircraft’s position and mission critical condition data to the ground and controller-pilot data link communication for clearance and information services. We provide critical communications applications for airlines and air transport customers such as Continental Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and El Al Airlines. These operators rely on our services because other forms of communication may be unaffordable or unreliable in areas such as the polar regions. We maintain relationships with ARINC Incorporated and SITA, SC, two of the leading providers of voice and data network communications services and applications to the airline sector, which integrate our products and services into their offerings.

 

   

Aviation passenger communications: Corporate and private fleet aircraft passengers use our services for air-to-ground telephony and data communications. Operators are currently using our services to enable passengers to e-mail using their own Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones, including Blackberry devices or other similar smartphones, without causing interference with aircraft controls. We believe our distributors’ small, lightweight cost-effective solutions offer an attractive alternative for airlines and operators, particularly small fleet operators.

 

   

Rotary and general aviation applications: We are also a major supplier for rotary aviation applications to end-users including medevac, law enforcement, oil and gas, and corporate work fleets, among others. Companies such as Air Logistics, EagleMed and Air Evac Lifeteam rely on applications from our distributors for traditional voice communications, fleet monitoring and management and real time flight diagnostics.

 

   

Air traffic control communications, or safety applications: The International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, has approved standards and recommended practices allowing us to provide Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Services to commercial aircraft on long-haul routes. This allows member states to evaluate and approve our services for safety communications on transoceanic flights, and operational evaluations are currently underway. Once our services are approved by member states, aircraft crew and air traffic controllers will be able to use our services for data and voice communications between the flight deck and ground-based air traffic control facilities. We are the only satellite provider capable of offering such critical flight safety applications around the entire globe, including the polar regions. We believe this particular sector of the market will present us with significant growth opportunities, as our services and applications will serve as a cost-effective alternative to the aging high-frequency radio systems currently in operation.

 

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Machine-to-Machine

We are one of the leading providers of satellite-based M2M services. We believe the early state of this market and its significant under-penetration present opportunities for future growth. As with land-based handsets, our largest M2M users include mining, construction, oil and gas, utilities, heavy industry, maritime, forestry and transport companies, as well as the military, public safety and disaster relief agencies. We believe increasing demand for automated data collection processes from mobile and remote assets operating outside the coverage of terrestrial wireline and wireless networks, as well as the continued push to integrate the operation of such assets into enterprise management and information technology systems, will likewise increase demand for our M2M applications.

Our M2M services are used for:

 

   

Fleet management: Our global coverage permits our products and services to be used to monitor the location of vehicle fleets, hours of service and engine telemetry data, as well as to conduct two-way communications with drivers around the entire world. Long distance drivers need reliable communication with both dispatchers and their destinations to coordinate changing business needs, and our satellite network provides continuous communications coverage while they are in transit. We expect the push for more efficient, cost-effective and safer fleet operations as well as the imposition of regulatory mandates related to driver safety, such as drive time monitoring, will drive demand for our services in this area.

 

   

Fixed-asset monitoring: Multinational corporations, such as oil-field service companies like Schlumberger Limited and ConocoPhillips Company, or ConocoPhillips, use our services to run applications that allow remote monitoring and operation of equipment and facilities around the globe, such as oil pipelines and off-shore drilling platforms.

 

   

Asset tracking: Leveraging M2M applications developed by several of our distributors, companies use our services and related devices to track assets, including personnel, for logistics, theft-prevention and safety purposes. Transportation companies, such as Horizon Lines, Inc., for example, employ M2M applications developed by Cubic Global Tracking Solutions, Inc. to track containers while in transit.

 

   

Resource management: Our global coverage and data throughput capabilities support natural resource management applications such as fishing management systems. Zunibal S.A., one of our VARs, has developed applications for the fishing industry to assist fishing fleets in pursuing more efficient fishing practices.

 

   

Scientific data monitoring: The global coverage of our network supports many scientific data collection applications such as the Argo float program of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. This program relies on our M2M services to collect climate data from buoys located throughout the world’s oceans for monitoring and analysis. We believe the increased need for monitoring climate and environmental data associated with global climate change and human impact on the planet will increase demand for such services.

Government

We are one of the leading global providers of mobile satellite communications services to the U.S. government, principally, the DoD. We provide mobile satellite products and services to all branches of the U.S. armed forces. Our voice products are used by soldiers for a variety of primary and backup communications solutions, including logistical, administrative, morale and welfare and emergency communications. In addition, our products and related applications are installed on ground vehicles, ships, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, embedded in unattended sensors and used for command and control and situational awareness purposes. Global security concerns are among the factors driving demand for our products and services in this sector. See “—U.S. Government Services” for more information.

Seasonality

Our business is subject to seasonal usage changes for commercial customers, and we expect it to be affected by similar seasonality going forward. April through October are typically the peak months for commercial voice traffic and related subscriber equipment sales. U.S. government usage and commercial M2M usage have been less subject to seasonal changes.

Services and Products

At December 31, 2010, we had approximately 427,000 billable subscribers worldwide. Our principal services are mobile satellite services, including mobile voice and data services and M2M services. Sales of our commercial services collectively accounted for approximately 51% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010. We also sell related voice and data equipment to our customers, which accounted for approximately 26% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010. In addition, we offer services to U.S. government customers, including the DoD. U.S. government services accounted for approximately 23% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010.

 

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Our Commercial Services

Post-paid Mobile Voice and Data Satellite Communications Services

We sell our mobile voice and data services to service providers and VARs who in turn offer such services to end-users, either directly or indirectly through dealers, through various packaged solutions such as monthly plans with differing price levels that vary depending upon expected usage. In exchange for these services, we typically charge service providers and VARs a monthly access fee per subscriber as well as usage fees for airtime minutes used by their respective subscribers. A small number of our post-paid customers purchase monthly blocks of airtime minutes which must be used in a given month or are forfeited.

Prepaid Mobile Voice Satellite Communications Services

We also offer mobile voice services to service providers and VARs through prepaid plans. Service providers and VARs pay us in advance for defined blocks of airtime minutes with expiration periods in various configurations, typically one year. These services are then typically sold to subscribers in the form of prepaid scratch cards and e-vouchers that enable subscribers to use our services on a per minute basis. Unused minutes are forfeited on the applicable expiration date. We believe service providers and VARs are drawn to these services as they enable greater cost control, since they eliminate the need for monthly billings and reduce collection costs, and can be sold in cash economies where credit is not readily available. Our distributors often offer our prepaid voice services through fixed devices to subscribers in rural villages, at remote industrial, commercial and residential sites and on ships at sea, among other places. Fixed voice satellite communications services are in many cases an attractive alternative to handheld mobile satellite communications services in situations where multiple users will access the service within a defined geographic area and terrestrial wireline or wireless service is not available. Fixed phones, for example, can be configured as pay phones that accept prepaid scratch cards and can be installed at a central location, for example in a rural village or maritime vessel.

High-Speed Data Services

Our high-speed data maritime service, Iridium OpenPort, offers maritime end-users speeds of up to 128 kbps and up to three independent voice lines which can be used simultaneously without interference. Data rates on this service can be adjusted up or down at any time without making hardware or software changes, giving subscribers options that allow them to balance needs for data transmission speeds against cost considerations on a real-time basis. In conjunction with our distributors, we offer additional services that permit service providers and VARs to offer complete integrated solutions for ship-to-shore crew calling, e-mail and IP-based data communications. We believe Iridium OpenPort, our first high-speed data service in the maritime market, offers a competitive alternative to other marine satellite services that offer fewer features at higher costs. For our Iridium OpenPort service, we typically charge service providers and VARs a monthly access fee per subscriber as well as usage fees for airtime minutes used by the respective subscribers above their monthly quotas.

Machine-to-Machine Services

Our M2M services are designed to address the market need for a small and cost-effective solution for sending and receiving data, such as location, from fixed and mobile assets in remote locations to a central monitoring station. This service operates through a two-way short-burst data transmission between our network and a telemetry unit, which may be located, for example, on a container in transit or a buoy monitoring oceanographic conditions. The small size of the units makes them attractive for use in applications such as tracking asset shipments, monitoring unattended remote assets, including oil and gas assets, vehicle tracking and mobile security. We sell our M2M services to our distributors who in turn offer such services to end-users such as various U.S. and international governmental agencies, including NOAA, as well as commercial and other entities such as Schlumberger Limited and ConocoPhillips. Increasingly, our M2M modems are being built into products for consumer markets, such as personal location devices that provide two-way messaging. As with our mobile voice and data offerings, we typically charge service providers and VARs a monthly access fee per subscriber as well as usage fees for airtime minutes used by their respective subscribers.

Other Services

In addition to access and usage fees, we generate revenue from several ancillary services related to our core service offerings, such as inbound connections from the public switched telephone network, or PSTN, short message services, or SMS, subscriber identity module, or SIM, activation, customer reactivation and other peripheral services. We also provide research and development services to assist customers in developing new technologies compatible with our system which we may leverage for use in service and product offerings in the future. We charge our distributors fees for these services.

In the future, we anticipate the ability to provide hosted payload services to customers during the life of our next-generation constellation, Iridium NEXT, which will replace our current satellite constellation. We expect to enter into agreements with such customers to host their applications on our satellites in exchange for a hosting fee to be paid in advance of launch plus recurring service revenues to be paid during the life of the hosted application after launch. Currently, we are providing research and development services to potential hosted payload customers.

 

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Our U.S. Government Services

We provide U.S. government customers bulk access to our services, including traditional voice, netted voice, data, messaging and paging services, as well as maintenance services for the DoD’s dedicated gateway. We provide airtime to U.S. government subscribers through (i) fixed monthly fees on a per user basis for airtime services and voice usage, (ii) fixed monthly fee per user for paging services, (iii) a tiered pricing plan, based on usage per device, for data services, (iv) a fixed monthly fee on a per user basis for Netted Iridium usage, and (v) a monthly fee for active user-defined groups using Netted Iridium. U.S. government customers also rely on our voice and data products, which they purchase from our network of distributors. To comply with U.S. government regulations, we ensure handsets sold for use by the U.S. government are manufactured in the United States. VARs and VAMs typically integrate our products with other products, which they then offer to U.S. government customers as customized product solutions. Such customized voice and data solutions include:

 

   

personnel tracking devices, such as PLBs;

 

   

asset tracking devices for equipment, vehicles and aircraft;

 

   

over-the-horizon (beyond-line-of-sight) aircraft communications applications;

 

   

submarine communications applications;

 

   

specialized communications solutions for high-value individuals; and

 

   

specialized, secure, mobile communications and data devices for the military and intelligence community, such as secure satellite handsets with U.S. National Security Agency Type I encryption capability.

With funding support from the DoD, we continue to invest in research and development to develop new products and applications for use by all branches of the U.S. armed forces. In conjunction with the U.S. Navy, we and our partners introduced Netted Iridium, which uses a line of radio-only satellite devices which permit over-the-horizon push-to-talk group calling services for a user-defined group, or net. Netted service was made available in quantity for the first time in 2010. We expect Netted Iridium to provide us with the potential for future new commercial applications in public safety, fishing and field worker communications. In conjunction with The Boeing Company, or Boeing, and with funding from the U.S. government, we also continue to develop a high integrity GPS service, iGPS, which is expected to provide increased accuracy and improved anti-jamming capability for GPS signals.

Our Products

We offer a broad array of voice and data products for customers that work worldwide. Our devices or an antenna must be outside and within direct view of a satellite to be able to access our network.

Satellite Handsets

Our principal handset offering is the Iridium 9555 satellite handset phone which is similar in functionality to an ordinary cellular phone but with the solid, durable feel that many satellite phone users demand. We believe our reputation for industrial strength products is critical for customers, many of whom are located in the most inhospitable spots on the planet and require tough and reliable communications equipment.

The Iridium 9555 provides voice, SMS and data connectivity. This model introduced several features that were not available on its predecessor, the 9505A, including a larger, brighter screen, improved SMS and e-mail capabilities, an integrated antenna and speakerphone. The Iridium 9555 weighs 9.4 ounces and offers up to 3.1 hours of talk time. The Iridium 9555 maintains the industrial feel of its predecessor, with a rugged housing to protect its sophisticated satellite transceiver. We believe the Iridium 9555 satellite handset offers significant improvements over our earlier-generation equipment and that it will maintain a competitive position as a premium offering in the market due to its small size, reliability and global coverage.

In addition to the Iridium 9555, Iridium continues to manufacture the Iridium 9505A handset, which is qualified for sale to U.S. government customers. We are also developing a variant of the Iridium 9555 satellite handset that we expect to be qualified for sale to U.S. government customers.

Voice and Data Modems

We also offer a combined voice transceiver and data modem, which our distributors integrate into a variety of communications solutions that are deployed in different applications around the world. Our principal modem is the Iridium 9522B L-Band transceiver, which is effectively the core of our Iridium 9555 satellite handset without a keypad, display, earpiece and microphone.

 

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Our principal customers for our L-Band transceivers are VAMs who integrate them into specialized devices that access our network. These specialized products are often the highest generators of traffic on our network. On-board crew calling terminals built around Iridium L-Band transceivers, which are used as payphones on maritime vessels, for example, have 10 to 20 times the average usage of a handheld phone, in part because they are shared across a large group of users. These products have also been integrated into mobile data applications providing e-mail services on maritime vessels.

High-Speed Data Devices

Our Iridium OpenPort terminal provides up to three independent voice lines and a high-speed data port configurable from 9.6 to 128 kbps. All voice and data capabilities can be used at the same time. Our principal customers for Iridium OpenPort are service providers who integrate the device with their own hardware and software products to provide a suite of customer-focused voice and IP-based data packages for ship business, crew calling and e-mail. We believe the low cost of our Iridium OpenPort terminal, combined with our high bandwidth and flexible configuration options, will allow us to grow our share of the existing maritime market while opening up new market sectors, such as luxury yachts, tug boats and other fishing and cruising vessels for which traditional marine satellite systems have typically been too costly.

Machine-to-Machine Data Devices

In May 2010, we introduced the Iridium 9602 full-duplex short-burst data transceiver, which is smaller, lighter and less expensive than its predecessor, the Iridium 9601. The Iridium 9602 is a small data device with two-way transmission, capable of sending packet data to and from any point in the world with low latency. The principal customers for our Iridium 9602 data modems are VARs and VAMs, who embed the Iridium 9602 into their tracking, sensor, and data applications and systems, such as asset tracking systems. The Iridium 9602 is often combined with a GPS receiver to provide location information to customer applications. In addition, an increasing number of VARs and VAMs are including a terrestrial global system for mobile communication, or GSM, packet radio service modem in their applications to provide low cost cellular data transmission when available. These types of multiband applications are adopted by end-users who require the ability to regularly transfer data but operate in areas with inconsistent cellular coverage. We provide gap-filler coverage for such applications allowing such users to operate anywhere on the globe.

Device Development and Manufacturing

Currently, we contract with Cambridge Consulting Ltd., or Cambridge, and certain other suppliers to develop all of our devices, and with Celestica Corporation, or Celestica, a contract manufacturer, to manufacture our devices in facilities in Malaysia and the United States. Pursuant to our contract with Celestica, we may be required to purchase excess materials from Celestica at cost plus a contractual markup if the materials are not used in production within the periods specified in the agreement. Celestica will then generally repurchase such materials from us at the same price paid by us, as required for the production of the devices. Our agreement with Celestica is automatically renewable for additional one year terms unless terminated by either party. We generally provide our distributors with a warranty on subscriber equipment for one to five years from the date of activation, depending on the product. We also utilize other suppliers, some of which are sole source, to manufacture certain component parts of our devices.

In addition to our principal products, we also offer a selection of accessories for our devices, including holsters, earbuds, portable auxiliary antennas, antenna adaptors, USB data cables and charging units, among others. We purchase these products from several third-party suppliers either pursuant to contractual agreements or off the shelf at market prices.

Our Spectrum

We hold licenses to use 8.725 MHz of continuous spectrum in the L-Band, which operates at 1.6 GHz, and allows for two-way communication between our devices and our satellites. In addition, for feeder and inter-satellite links, we are authorized to use 600 MHz of Ka-Band and K-Band spectrum. Of this spectrum, we use 200 MHz of K-Band spectrum for satellite-to-satellite communications, and 400 MHz of Ka-Band spectrum for two-way communication between our satellites and our gateways. Our spectrum position is globally coordinated and recorded by the International Telecommunication Union, or ITU. Our products and services are offered in over 100 countries, and we continue to seek authorizations in additional countries. Access to this spectrum enables us to design satellites, network and terrestrial infrastructure enhancements cost effectively because each product and service can be deployed and sold worldwide.

 

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The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, initially licensed us to operate on 5.15 MHz of the 10.5 MHz of spectrum which Motorola Inc., or Motorola, originally designed our system to operate within and later increased our licensed spectrum to include an additional 3.1 MHz on a shared basis with Globalstar. In November 2007, an FCC order increased our exclusive spectrum to 7.775 MHz with an additional 0.95 MHz shared with Globalstar. On May 1, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a petition for review filed by Globalstar of the FCC’s decision to reallocate L-band spectrum from Globalstar to us. The decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit became final and non-reviewable on July 30, 2009, because Globalstar did not seek rehearing en banc with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit or file a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. Globalstar has also filed a petition before the FCC asking for reconsideration of the global effects of the license modification, contending that the FCC’s decision should not have affected Globalstar’s operations outside of the United States. We have opposed the reconsideration request as without merit, and no decision has been issued by the FCC. The disposition by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit does not directly impact Globalstar’s pending petition for reconsideration of the FCC decision to modify Globalstar’s license on a global basis. Notwithstanding these challenges by Globalstar at the FCC, modifications to our and Globalstar’s licenses consistent with the November 2007 spectrum change took effect on a global basis on December 14, 2008, in accordance with federal law. On August 9, 2010, Globalstar terminated operations on our spectrum and entered into a consent decree with the FCC regarding its unauthorized use of our spectrum.

Our use of satellite spectrum is subject to the frequency rules and regulations of the ITU. The ITU is the United Nations organization responsible for worldwide co-operation in the telecommunications sector. In order to protect satellite systems from harmful radio frequency interference from other satellite systems, the ITU maintains a Master International Frequency Register of radio frequency assignments. Each ITU administration is required to give notice of, coordinate and record its proposed use of radio frequency assignments with the ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau. The coordination negotiations are conducted by the national administrations with the assistance of satellite operators. When the coordination process is completed, the ITU formally notifies all proposed users of frequencies and orbital locations in order to protect the recorded assignments from subsequent nonconforming or interfering uses by member states of the ITU. Only member states have full standing within this inter-governmental organization.

Filings to the ITU for our current constellation have been made on our behalf by the United States. We have coordinated frequencies in the mobile satellite services spectrum at L-band (1.6 GHz) for communication between our satellites and end-user devices, frequencies in the Ka-Band (19.4 GHz to 19.6 GHz and 29.1 to 29.3 GHz) for communications between us and the gateways and our satellites, as well as frequencies in the K-Band (23 GHz) for our inter-satellite links.

The ITU controls the assignment of country codes used for placing telephone calls between different countries. Our network is assigned the 8816 and 8817 country codes and uses these numbers for calling and communications between terminals.

Domestic and Foreign Revenue

We supply services and products to customers in a number of foreign countries. We allocate revenues geographically based on where we invoice our distributors, whom we bill for mobile satellite services and related equipment sales, and not according to the location of the end-user. These distributors sell services directly or indirectly to end-users, who may be located elsewhere. It is not possible for us to provide the geographical distribution of end-users, as we do not contract directly with them. The majority of our revenues are invoiced in U.S. dollars. U.S. revenues accounted for approximately 48.1% of our revenues for 2010. The table below sets forth the percentage of our revenues by country for the periods indicated:

 

     Year ended
December 31,
2010
    Year ended
December 31,
2009
    Year ended
December 31,
2008
 

United States

     48.1     47.6     48.6

Canada

     14.1     14.8     17.2

United Kingdom

     11.5     10.1     8.0

Other countries(1)

     26.3     27.5     26.2

 

(1) No other single country represented more than 10% of our revenue for any of the periods indicated.

For more information about our revenue from sales to foreign and domestic customers, see Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements and Note 11 to Iridium Holdings’ financial statements contained herein.

 

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Traffic Originating Outside the U.S.

A significant portion of our voice and data traffic originates outside the United States. The table below estimates the percentage of our commercial voice and data traffic originating outside the United States, excluding Iridium OpenPort traffic, for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008.

 

     Year ended
December 31,
2010
    Year ended
December 31,
2009
    Year ended
December 31,
2008
 

Commercial voice traffic (minutes)

     90.0     90.2     90.1

Commercial data traffic (kilobytes)

     66.7     68.9     74.7

Our Network

Current Constellation

Our satellite network includes 66 in-orbit LEO satellites, in addition to in-orbit spares. We also maintain a non-service in-orbit spare which we use for testing purposes. The satellites operate in six orbital planes of eleven vehicles each in nearly circular polar orbits. Our satellites orbit at an altitude of approximately 483 miles (778 kilometers) above the earth and travel at approximately 16,689 mph resulting in a complete orbit of the earth approximately every 100 minutes. The design of our constellation ensures that generally at least one satellite is visible to subscribers from any point on the earth’s surface, covering all of the world’s population. While our constellation offers 100% global coverage, satellite services are not available in locations where a satellite signal cannot be transmitted or received or when the device or antenna does not have a direct line of sight to a satellite, such as inside a building.

Our constellation is unique among commercial constellations in its usage of radio frequency crosslinks between our satellites. These crosslinks enable each satellite to communicate with up to four other satellites in space—two in the same orbital plane and two in adjacent planes. Our traffic is generally routed between satellites, which minimizes the ground infrastructure necessary to support the constellation by allowing the satellite that is then passing over the ground station to transmit all traffic to and from the rest of the satellite constellation to terrestrial-based networks such as the PSTN. This interlinked architecture enables our primary ground station gateway to support most commercial traffic globally.

We believe our interlinked satellite infrastructure provides several advantages over networks that rely on multiple terrestrial gateways like Globalstar’s and ORBCOMM’s networks. We have the only satellite network with 100% global coverage, and our constellation is less vulnerable to single points of failure, since traffic can be routed around any one satellite problem to complete the communications path. In addition, the small number of ground stations increases the security of our constellation, a factor that makes our network particularly attractive to government institutions and large enterprises that desire secure voice and data communications. The low orbit of our constellation also allows our network to operate with low latency due to the proximity of our satellites to the earth.

Our constellation provides significant coverage overlap for mitigation of service gaps from individual satellite outages, particularly at higher northern and lower southern latitudes. Each satellite was designed with a high degree of on-board subsystem robustness, an on-board fault detection system, and isolation and recovery capabilities for safe and quick risk mitigation. Our ability to reconfigure the orbital location of each satellite provides us with operating flexibility and enhances our ability to maintain a commercially-acceptable level of service. If a satellite should fail or become unusable, in most cases, we can reposition one of our in-orbit spare satellites to take over its functions. If there is an in-orbit spare located in the orbital plane of the failed satellite, such repositioning can often be accomplished within days with minimal impact on our services. If there is no in-orbit spare located in the relevant orbital plane, redeploying an in-orbit spare into the affected plane will take at least one year. The design of our space and ground control system facilitates the real time intervention and management of the satellite constellation and service upgrades via software enhancements.

Our commercial gateway is located in Tempe, Arizona. This gateway has multiple antennas that communicate with our satellites and pass calls seamlessly between gateway antennas and satellites as the satellites traverse the gateway, thereby connecting signals from the terminals of end-users to our gateway. Additional gateways can be added to the network to enable dedicated communications links that are not dependent on localized terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure where subscribers are using our services. Such gateways would be able to generate and control all user information pertaining to our registered users, such as user identity, geo-location and call detail records. The DoD owns and operates a dedicated gateway for U.S. government users to take advantage of this capability. This gateway provides an interface between voice and data devices and the Defense Information Systems Network, providing DoD users with secure communications capabilities. We are also in discussions with parties in countries that require physical gateways within their jurisdiction to build or reactivate additional gateways to connect the traffic to the constellation coming to and from their territory, including Russia and China.

We operate our satellite constellation from our satellite network operations center in Leesburg, Virginia. This facility manages the performance and status of each of our satellites, developing and distributing routing tables for use by the satellites and gateways, directing traffic routing through the network and controlling the formation of coverage areas by the satellites’ main mission antennas. We also operate telemetry, tracking, and control stations, or TTACs, and satellite earth station facilities in Fairbanks, Alaska and Chandler, Arizona in the United States, and in northern Canada and Norway. The Alaskan ground station also provides earth terminal backup capability for the Tempe gateway.

 

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From time to time, individual satellites in our constellation experience operating problems that may result in a satellite outage, but due to overlapping coverage within our constellation, the individual satellite outages typically do not negatively affect our customers’ use of our system for a prolonged period. In addition, most system processing related to our service is performed using software onboard each satellite instead of on the ground. We believe this has provided us with significant flexibility and has contributed to the longevity of the system by enabling engineers to develop additional functionality and software-based solutions to occasional faults and anomalies in the system.

We have experienced seven satellite losses since we reintroduced commercial satellite services in 2001 that have resulted in the complete loss of the affected satellites or the loss of the ability of the satellite to carry traffic on the network. Six of these losses were from satellites that failed in orbit and one satellite was lost as a result of a 2009 collision with a non-operational Russian satellite. To date, each time we have lost a satellite we have been able to replace it with an in-orbit spare.

Based on the failures and anomalies we have experienced to date, and considering the potential for future anomalies, we believe our current constellation will provide a commercially acceptable level of service through the transition to Iridium NEXT. We expect to be able to mitigate most satellite failures through the use of the remaining in-orbit spares, the implementation of software solutions, and by landing communications traffic at our ground station in Alaska and backhauling traffic to the Tempe gateway for processing and termination. Accordingly, we believe our constellation can be operationally functional with fewer than 66 satellites while experiencing some service degradation. However, there can be no assurance that our satellites will not fail faster than expected or that we will be able to mitigate any future failures.

In addition to our in-orbit spare satellites, we own spare parts for certain equipment in our gateway and TTACs. We selectively replace parts for our gateway and TTACs as necessary and maintain an inventory of spare parts which we continuously monitor. In addition, when we do not have necessary spares in inventory or such spares become obsolete, we rely on third parties to develop necessary parts.

On July 21, 2010, Iridium Constellation LLC, or Iridium Constellation, a subsidiary of Iridium Satellite, and Boeing entered into a long-term operations and maintenance agreement, which we refer to as the O&M Agreement, which superseded the prior operations and maintenance agreement previously in place between Iridium Constellation and Boeing. Under the O&M Agreement, Boeing operates and maintains our satellite constellation. The term of the O&M Agreement runs concurrently with the estimated useful life of the current constellation. The amendment and restatement of the prior agreement does not materially change the obligations of Boeing, but provides for annual price reductions and other cost-saving opportunities and converts the fee for Boeing’s operations and maintenance services from a fixed-price fee to a time-and-materials fee with an annual limit on amounts paid.

In addition, on July 21, 2010, Iridium Satellite and Boeing entered into an agreement pursuant to which Boeing provides services in support of the development of Iridium NEXT and will operate and maintain Iridium NEXT, which we refer to as the NEXT Support Services Agreement. Boeing provides these services on a time-and-materials fee basis. The term of the NEXT Support Services Agreement runs concurrently with the estimated useful life of the Iridium NEXT constellation. Iridium Satellite is entitled to terminate the agreement for convenience and without cause commencing in 2019.

Pursuant to an amended and restated transition services, products and asset agreement, or the TSA, by and among Motorola, Iridium Holdings and Iridium Satellite and a separate agreement by and among Iridium Satellite, Boeing, Motorola and the U.S. government, Iridium Satellite is required to maintain an in-orbit liability insurance policy with a de-orbiting endorsement to cover the de-orbiting of our satellite constellation in the amount of $500.0 million per occurrence, and $1.0 billion in the aggregate. The current policy together with the de-orbiting endorsement covers amounts that we and certain other named parties may become liable to pay for bodily injury or property damage to third parties related to processing, maintaining and operating our satellite constellation and, in the case of the de-orbiting endorsement, de-orbiting the satellite constellation, although it contains exceptions for third-party damages which may result from the 2009 in-orbit satellite collision. The policy covers us, the U.S. government, Boeing, as operator of our system, Motorola and other named beneficiaries. The policy has been renewed annually since the expiration of the original policy’s three-year term in 2003. The current policy has a one-year term, which expires December 12, 2011. In addition, Iridium maintains a separate $1.0 billion product liability policy to cover Motorola’s potential liability as manufacturer of the satellites. We do not maintain in-orbit insurance covering losses from satellite failures or other operational problems affecting our constellation.

Constellation De-Orbiting Obligations

When Iridium Satellite purchased the assets of Iridium LLC out of bankruptcy, Boeing, Motorola and the U.S. government required specified de-orbit rights as a way to control potential liability risk arising from future operation of our current constellation,

 

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and provide for the U.S. government’s obligation to indemnify Motorola pursuant to the Indemnification Agreement described below. As a result, the Indemnification Agreement was entered into among Iridium Satellite, Boeing, Motorola and the U.S. government, as subsequently amended in September 2010, giving the U.S. government the right to, in its sole discretion, require us to de-orbit our constellation in the event of (a) Iridium Satellite’s failure to maintain certain insurance and pay certain insurance premiums; (b) Iridium Satellite’s bankruptcy; (c) Iridium Satellite’s sale or the sale of any major asset in our satellite system; (d) Boeing’s replacement as the operator of our satellite system; (e) Iridium Satellite’s failure to provide certain notices as contemplated by the Indemnification Agreement; or (f) at any time after January 1, 2015. Prior to the September 2010 amendment of the Indemnification Agreement, the U.S. government had the right to require us to de-orbit our constellation at any time after June 5, 2009. Pursuant to the September 2010 amendment, the U.S. government may withdraw its agreement to postpone the exercise of its de-orbit right (i) on or after January 1, 2015; (ii) if Iridium Satellite violates any terms of the Indemnification Agreement or fails to comply with any terms of the September 2010 amendment; (iii) if more than four satellites have insufficient fuel to execute a 12-month de-orbit; (iv) if Iridium Satellite fails to comply with the de-boost plans; (v) upon a finding by the FCC, not remedied by Iridium Satellite in the time set forth by the FCC, that Iridium Satellite has failed to comply with the terms of the Iridium Orbital Debris Mitigation Plan filed with the FCC and then in effect; (vi) upon the cancellation, non-renewal or refusal to provide any insurance required by the Indemnification Agreement; and (vii) upon the termination or completion of the current or any successor agreement between Iridium Satellite and the DoD pursuant to which Iridium Satellite provides mobile satellite services to the DoD. The U.S. government also has the right to require us to de-orbit any of our individual functioning satellites, including in-orbit spares, that have been in orbit for more than seven years, unless the U.S. government grants a postponement. All of our functioning satellites have been in orbit for more than seven years.

Motorola also has the right to require us to de-orbit our constellation pursuant to the TSA and pursuant to the O&M Agreement. Under these agreements, Motorola may require the de-orbit of our constellation upon the occurrence of any of the following: (a) the bankruptcy of our company, Iridium Holdings, Iridium Constellation or Iridium Satellite; (b) Iridium Satellite’s breach of the TSA; (c) Boeing’s breach of the O&M Agreement or a related agreement between Boeing and Motorola; (d) an order from the U.S. government requiring the de-orbiting of our satellites; (e) Motorola’s determination that changes in law or regulation may require it to incur specified costs relating to the operation, maintenance, re-orbiting or de-orbiting of our constellation; or (f) our failure to obtain, on commercially reasonable terms, product liability insurance to cover Motorola’s position as manufacturer of the satellites, provided the U.S. government has not agreed to cover what would have otherwise been paid by such policy.

Pursuant to the O&M Agreement, Boeing similarly has the unilateral right to de-orbit our constellation upon the occurrence of any of the following events: (a) Iridium Constellation’s failure to pay Boeing in accordance with the terms of the O&M Agreement; (b) Iridium Constellation’s or Iridium Satellite’s bankruptcy; (c) Iridium Constellation’s failure to maintain certain insurance policies; (d) a default by Iridium Constellation under the O&M Agreement; or (e) changes in law or regulation that may increase the risks or costs associated with the operation or de-orbit process or the cost of operation or de-orbit of the constellation.

In addition, we have certain de-orbit obligations under our FCC licenses, Specifically, pursuant to an orbital debris mitigation plan filed with the FCC and incorporated into our space station license in 2002, we are required to lower each satellite to an orbit with a perigee of approximately 250 kilometers as it reaches the end of its useful life and coordinate these orbit-lowering maneuvers with the United States Space Command. We have applied to modify our license to conform these requirements to the less stringent de-orbit standards for non-geostationary satellites that the FCC acknowledged in 2004 would serve the public interest. Our modification application remains pending. In March 2011, we also requested special temporary authority to operate three of our satellites according to the orbital debris mitigation plan specified in our pending modification application.

Iridium NEXT

Our satellites have exceeded their original design lives, and we are currently developing our next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT, which we expect to commence launching in early 2015. The current constellation is expected to provide a commercially acceptable level of service through the transition to Iridium NEXT. We estimate the aggregate costs associated with the design, build and launch of Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure upgrades through early 2017 to be approximately $3 billion. We believe our new credit facility, described below, together with internally generated cash flow, including potential revenues from hosted payloads, will be sufficient to fully fund the aggregate costs associated with the design, build and launch of Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure upgrades through early 2017.

Full Scale Development and Launch Services Agreements

In June 2010, we, through Iridium Satellite, executed a primarily fixed price full scale development contract, or FSD, with Thales Alenia Space France, or Thales, for the design and manufacture of satellites for Iridium NEXT. The effectiveness of the FSD was contingent upon our securing financing for the FSD. Also in June 2010, we entered into an authorization to proceed, or ATP, with Thales, which allowed Thales to commence work immediately on the development of satellites prior to the effectiveness of the FSD. The FSD contemplates the launch of the first Iridium NEXT satellites during the first quarter of 2015.

 

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In the third quarter of 2010, Iridium Satellite entered into amendments with Thales to the ATP and FSD pursuant to which we paid $37.6 million to Thales to mitigate the potential currency fluctuations on the Euro-denominated portions of the ATP and FSD. On October 25, 2010, we finalized a $1.8 billion loan facility, or the Facility, and satisfied the conditions for the first borrowing. As a result, the FSD became effective and the ATP terminated automatically by its terms. Our aggregate payments under the ATP through the date of its termination were $149.3 million, which were credited against amounts due under the FSD. The total price under the FSD will be approximately $2.2 billion, and we expect our payment obligations under the FSD to extend into the third quarter of 2017.

In March 2010, we, through Iridium Satellite, entered into an agreement with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, to secure SpaceX as the primary launch services provider for Iridium NEXT. The effectiveness of this agreement, which we refer to as the SpaceX Agreement, was contingent upon our securing financing for the FSD, which occurred on October 25, 2010 when we satisfied the conditions for the first borrowing under the Facility. The SpaceX Agreement has a maximum price of $492.0 million. As of December 31, 2010, we had made total payments of $43.7 million to SpaceX.

COFACE Credit Facility

On October 4, 2010, Iridium Satellite entered into the Facility with a syndicate of bank lenders. Ninety-five percent of the obligations under the Facility are insured by Compagnie Française d’Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur, or COFACE, the French export credit agency. The Facility consists of two tranches, with draws and repayments applied pro rata in respect of each tranche:

 

   

Tranche A – $1,537,500,000 at a fixed rate of 4.96%; and

 

   

Tranche B – $262,500,000 at a floating rate equal to the London Interbank Offer Rate, or LIBOR, plus 1.95%.

In connection with each draw it makes under the Facility, Iridium Satellite will also borrow an amount equal to 6.49% of such draw to cover the premium for the COFACE policy. Iridium Satellite will also pay a commitment fee of 0.80% per year, in semi-annual installments, on any undrawn portion of the Facility beginning on April 4, 2011. In addition, pursuant to separate fee letters entered into at the same time as the Facility, Iridium Satellite paid arrangement fees to the syndicate banks totaling $46.6 million on October 29, 2010. Funds drawn under the Facility will be used for (i) 85% of the costs under the FSD for the construction of Iridium NEXT satellites and reimbursement to Iridium Satellite for 85% of the amounts it previously paid to Thales under the ATP, (ii) the premium for the COFACE policy and (iii) the payment of a portion of interest during a part of the construction and launch phase of Iridium NEXT.

Scheduled semi-annual principal repayments will begin six months after the earlier of (i) the successful deployment of a specified number of Iridium NEXT satellites or (ii) September 30, 2017. During this repayment period, interest will be paid on the same date as the principal repayments. Prior to the repayment period, interest payments will be due on a semi-annual basis beginning April 29, 2011. The Facility will mature seven years after the start of the repayment period.

Iridium Satellite’s obligations under the Facility are guaranteed by us and our subsidiaries that are obligors under the Facility and are secured on a senior basis by a lien on substantially all of our assets and those of Iridium Satellite and the other obligors.

Iridium Satellite may not prepay any borrowings prior to December 31, 2015. If on that date, a specified number of Iridium NEXT satellites have been successfully launched and we have adequate time and resources to complete the Iridium NEXT constellation on schedule, Iridium Satellite may prepay the borrowings without penalty. In addition, following the completion of the Iridium NEXT constellation, Iridium Satellite may prepay the borrowings without penalty. Any amounts repaid may not be reborrowed. Iridium Satellite must repay the loans in full upon (i) a delisting of our common stock, (ii) a change in control of our company or our ceasing to own 100% of any of the other obligors or (iii) the sale of all or substantially all of our assets. We must apply all or a portion of specified capital raising proceeds, insurance proceeds and condemnation proceeds to the prepayment of the loans. The Facility includes customary representations, events of default, covenants and conditions precedent to drawing of funds. The financial covenants include:

 

   

a minimum cash requirement;

 

   

a minimum debt to equity ratio level;

 

   

maximum capital expenditure levels;

 

   

minimum consolidated operational EBITDA levels;

 

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minimum cash flow requirements from customers who have hosted payloads on our satellites;

 

   

minimum debt service reserve levels;

 

   

a minimum debt service coverage ratio level; and

 

   

maximum leverage levels.

The covenants also place limitations on the ability of us and our subsidiaries to carry out mergers and acquisitions; dispose of assets; grant security interests; declare, make or pay dividends; enter into certain transactions with affiliates; fund payments under the FSD from our own resources; incur debt; or make loans, guarantees or indemnities.

On October 29, 2010, we borrowed $135.1 million under the Facility and used a portion of the proceeds to reimburse Iridium Satellite for a portion of the previous payments under the ATP and to pay the COFACE policy premium related to the draw. We also used funds received from this borrowing to pay $46.6 million of fees and expenses in connection with the negotiation and arrangement of the Facility. On January 10, 2011, we borrowed $15.2 million under the Facility, which was paid in part directly to Thales in respect of work performed under the FSD and in part to COFACE in respect of the COFACE policy premium.

Competition

The mobile satellite services industry is highly competitive, but has significant barriers to entry, including the cost and difficulty associated with obtaining spectrum licenses and successfully building and launching a satellite network. In addition to cost, there is a significant amount of lead-time associated with obtaining the required licenses, building and launching the satellite constellation and deploying the ground network technology. We are aware of no companies currently planning to enter the mobile satellite services industry. We currently face substantial competition from other service providers that offer a range of mobile and fixed communications options. Currently, our principal mobile satellite services competitors are Inmarsat, Globalstar and ORBCOMM. We compete primarily on the basis of coverage, quality, mobility and pricing of services and products.

United Kingdom-based Inmarsat, has been a provider of communications services, including voice and data services, since 1982. Inmarsat owns and operates a fleet of GEO satellites. Unlike LEO satellites, GEO satellites orbit the earth at approximately 22,300 miles above the equator. GEO operators require substantially larger and more expensive antennas, and typically have higher transmission delays than LEO operators. Due to its GEO system, Inmarsat’s coverage area extends and covers most bodies of water except for a majority of the polar regions. Accordingly, Inmarsat is the leading provider of satellite communications services to the maritime sector. Inmarsat also offers land-based and aviation communications services. In April 2009, Inmarsat acquired Stratos, one of our main distributors. Inmarsat generally does not sell directly to end-users. During 2010, Inmarsat launched a new handset that competes with our handsets.

U.S.-based Globalstar owns and operates a fleet of LEO satellites. Globalstar began commercial services in 2000. Globalstar’s service is available only on a multi-regional basis as a result of its bent pipe architecture, which requires that voice and data transmissions be routed from satellites immediately to nearby ground stations. This design requires the use of multiple ground stations, which are impractical in extreme latitudes or over oceans. Unlike Inmarsat and us, Globalstar sells a higher percentage of its products and services directly to end-users. Globalstar has indicated that satellite failures and other problems affecting its constellation are currently limiting its ability to provide two-way services. Globalstar is in the process of building and launching its second-generation satellite constellation, with launches expected to continue through the end of 2011. It is currently planning to replace only 24 of the original 48 satellites during this time.

U.S.-based ORBCOMM also provides commercial services using a fleet of LEO satellites. Like Globalstar, ORBCOMM’s network also has a bent pipe architecture, which limits its coverage area. ORBCOMM’s principal focus is low-cost data and M2M services, where it directly competes with our M2M offerings. Because a ground station may not be within view of a satellite, ORBCOMM’s services may have a significant amount of latency, which may limit their use in certain mission critical applications. It does not offer voice service or high-speed data services. ORBCOMM is similarly developing its second-generation satellite constellation. ORBCOMM suffered the loss of all six of its most recently launched satellites and has scheduled a new launch campaign to begin in June 2011.

We also compete with regional mobile satellite communications services in several geographic markets. In these cases, the majority of our competitors’ customers require regional, not global, mobile voice and data services, so our competitors present a viable alternative to our services. All of these competitors operate or plan to operate GEO satellites. Our regional mobile satellite services competitors currently include Thuraya Telecommunications Co., or Thuraya, principally in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and several countries in Asia; and DBSD North America, TerreStar Corporation, or TerreStar, and LightSquared (formerly SkyTerra Communications, Inc.) in North America. In July 2009, TerreStar launched its satellite TerreStar 1 and subsequently introduced its first satellite handset in September 2010. TerreStar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2010.

 

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We compete indirectly with terrestrial wireline and wireless communications networks. We provide service in areas that are inadequately covered by these ground systems. To the extent that terrestrial communications companies invest in underdeveloped areas, we will face increased competition in those areas. We believe that local telephone companies currently are reluctant to invest in new switches, landlines and cellular towers to expand their networks in rural and remote areas due to high costs and limited usage. Many of the underdeveloped areas are sparsely populated so it would be difficult to generate the necessary returns on the capital expenditures required to build terrestrial wireless networks in such areas. We believe that our solutions offer a cost-effective and reliable alternative to terrestrial-based wireline and wireless systems in these remote regions.

We could also face competition for our land-based services in the United States from ancillary terrestrial component, or ATC, service providers. In February 2003, the FCC adopted rules that permit satellite service providers to establish ATC networks. ATC authorization enables the integration of a satellite-based service with terrestrial wireless services, resulting in a hybrid mobile satellite services/ATC network designed to provide advanced services and broad coverage throughout the United States. The ATC ground network, using the same frequencies, would extend satellite services to urban areas and inside buildings where satellite services currently are impractical. Outside the United States, other countries are considering implementing regulations to facilitate ATC-like services.

Research and Development

Our research and development efforts have focused on the development, design and testing of new products and services, such as Iridium OpenPort, introduced in 2008, our 9602 transceiver, introduced in 2010, and the planning and development of the Iridium NEXT constellation and ground infrastructure. We also develop product and service enhancements and new applications for our existing products and services. Our research and development expenses were $19.2 million in 2010 and $23.4 million in 2009 on a combined basis with Iridium Holdings. Iridium Holdings’ research and development expenses were $32.8 million in 2008.

Employees

As of December 31, 2010, we had 174 full-time employees, none of whom is subject to any collective bargaining agreement. We consider our employee relations to be good.

Intellectual Property

At December 31, 2010, we held eight U.S. patents and one foreign patent. These patents cover several aspects of our satellite system, our global network and our devices.

In addition to our owned intellectual property, we also license critical system technology from Motorola, including software and systems to operate and maintain our network as well as technical information for the design and manufacture of our devices. This intellectual property is essential to our ability to continue to operate our constellation and sell our handsets. We also have licensed technology from Motorola relating to the development of Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure, products and services. We maintain our licenses with Motorola pursuant to several agreements. One or more of these agreements can be terminated by Motorola upon: (i) the commencement by or against Iridium Satellite of any bankruptcy proceeding or other specified liquidation proceedings; or (ii) the material failure of Iridium Satellite to perform or comply with any provision of certain of the agreements between Iridium Satellite and Motorola. If Motorola were to terminate any such agreement, it may be difficult or, under certain circumstances, impossible to obtain such technology from alternative vendors. Motorola has assigned a portion of the patents that comprise these licenses to a third party.

We license additional system technology from other third parties and expect to do so in the future both in connection with our current network and with the development of Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure, products and services. If any such third party were to terminate its agreement with us or cease to support and service this technology, or if we are unable to renew such licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all, it may be difficult, more expensive or impossible to obtain

 

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such services from alternative vendors. Any substitute technology may also have lower quality or performance standards, which would adversely affect the quality of our products and services. For more information, see “Risk Factors—We are dependent on intellectual property licensed from third parties to operate our constellation and sell our devices and for the enhancement of our existing products and services.”

Available Information

Copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments, if any, to those reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, are available free of charge through our website at www.iridium.com and on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, at www.sec.gov. A request for any of these reports may also be submitted to us by writing: Investor Relations, Iridium Communications Inc., 1750 Tysons Boulevard, Suite 1400, McLean, VA 22102, or by calling our investor relations line at 703-287-7570.

 

ITEM 1A.    Risk Factors

Our business plan depends on increased demand for mobile satellite services and demand for hosted payloads, among other factors.

Our business plan is predicated on growth in demand for mobile satellite services and the demand for hosted payloads on our next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT. Demand for mobile satellite services may not grow, or may even contract, either generally or in particular geographic markets, for particular types of services or during particular time periods and demand for hosted payloads may not materialize or may be priced lower than our expectations. A lack of demand could impair our ability to sell products and services, develop and successfully market new products and services and could exert downward pressure on prices. Any decline in prices would decrease our revenues and profitability and negatively affect our ability to generate cash for investments and other working capital needs.

Our ability to successfully implement our business plan will also depend on a number of other factors, including:

 

   

our ability to maintain the health, capacity and control of our existing satellite constellation;

 

   

our ability to complete the design, build and launch of Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure, products and services, and, once launched, our ability to maintain the health, capacity and control of such satellite constellation;

 

   

the level of market acceptance and demand for our products and services;

 

   

our ability to introduce innovative new products and services that satisfy market demand, including new service offerings on Iridium NEXT;

 

   

our ability to obtain additional business using our existing spectrum resources both in the United States and internationally;

 

   

our ability to sell our products and services in additional countries;

 

   

our ability to maintain our relationship with U.S. government customers, particularly the DoD;

 

   

the ability of our distributors to market and distribute our products, services and applications effectively and their continued development of innovative and improved solutions and applications for our products and services;

 

   

the effectiveness of our competitors in developing and offering similar services and products; and

 

   

our ability to maintain competitive prices for our products and services and control costs.

We may need additional capital to design, build and launch Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure, products and services, and pursue additional growth opportunities. If we fail to maintain access to sufficient capital, we will not be able to successfully implement our business plan.

Our business plan calls for the development of Iridium NEXT, the development of new product and service offerings, upgrades to our current services, hardware and software upgrades to maintain our ground infrastructure and upgrades to our business systems. We estimate the costs associated with the design, build and launch of Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure upgrades through early 2017 will be approximately $3 billion. While we expect to fund these costs with borrowings under the Facility, together with internally generated cash flows, including potential revenues from hosted payloads, it is possible that these sources will not be sufficient to fully fund Iridium NEXT, and we might need to finance the remaining cost by raising additional debt or equity financing. In addition, we may need additional capital to design and launch new products and services on Iridium NEXT. Such additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, or at all.

 

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Our ability to make ongoing draws under the Facility will be dependent upon our satisfaction of various borrowing conditions from time to time, some of which will be outside of our control. In addition, there can be no assurance that our internally generated cash flows will meet our current expectations or that we will not encounter increased costs. Among other factors leading to the uncertainty over our internally generated cash flows, demand for hosted payloads may not materialize or may be priced lower than our expectations. If available funds from the Facility and internally generated cash flows are less than we expect, our ability to maintain our network, design, build and launch Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure, develop new products and services, and pursue additional growth opportunities will be impaired, which would significantly limit the development of our business and impair our ability to provide a commercially acceptable level of service. We expect to experience overall liquidity levels lower than our recent liquidity levels. Inadequate liquidity could compromise our ability to pursue our business plans and growth opportunities and make borrowings under the Facility, delay the ultimate deployment of Iridium NEXT, and otherwise impair our business and financial position.

If we fail to satisfy the ongoing borrowing conditions of the Facility, we may be unable to fund Iridium NEXT.

We plan to use borrowings under the Facility to partially fund the construction of our Iridium NEXT satellites, including borrowing to capitalize interest otherwise due under such facility. Our ability to continue to draw funds under the Facility over time will be dependent on the satisfaction of borrowing conditions, including:

 

   

compliance with the covenants under the Facility, including financial covenants and covenants relating to hosted payloads;

 

   

accuracy of the representations we make under the Facility;

 

   

compliance with the other terms of the Facility, including the absence of events of default; and

 

   

maintenance of the policy with COFACE.

Some of these borrowing conditions are outside of our control. If we do not continue to satisfy the borrowing conditions under the Facility, we would need to find other sources of financing. In addition, we would have to seek the permission of the lenders under the Facility in order to obtain any alternative source of financing, and there can be no assurance that we would have access to other sources of financing on acceptable terms, or at all.

If we default under the Facility, the lenders may require immediate repayment in full of amounts borrowed or foreclose on our assets.

The Facility contains events of default, including:

 

   

non-compliance with the covenants under the Facility, including financial covenants and covenants relating to hosted payloads;

 

   

cross-default with other indebtedness;

 

   

insolvency of any obligor under the Facility;

 

   

revocation of the COFACE policy;

 

   

failure to maintain our current satellite constellation or complete Iridium NEXT by a specified time; and

 

   

a determination by the lenders that we have experienced a material adverse change in our business.

Some of these events of default are outside of our control. If we experience an event of default, the lenders may require repayment in full of all principal and interest outstanding under the Facility. It is unlikely we would have adequate funds to repay such amounts prior to the scheduled maturity of the Facility. If we fail to repay such amounts, the lenders may foreclose on the assets we have pledged under the Facility, which includes substantially all of our assets and those of our domestic subsidiaries.

The Facility restricts the manner in which we may operate our business, which may prevent us from successfully implementing our business plan.

The Facility contains restrictions on the operation of our business, including limits on our ability to:

 

   

make capital expenditures;

 

   

carry out mergers and acquisitions;

 

   

dispose of or grant liens on our assets;

 

   

enter into transactions with our affiliates;

 

   

pay dividends or make distributions to our stockholders;

 

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incur indebtedness;

 

   

prepay indebtedness; and

 

   

make loans, guarantees or indemnities.

Complying with these restrictions may cause us to take actions that are not favorable to holders of our securities and may make it more difficult for us to successfully execute our business plan and compete against companies who are not subject to such restrictions.

If we are unable to effectively develop and deploy Iridium NEXT before our current satellite constellation ceases to provide a commercially acceptable level of service, our business will suffer.

We are currently developing Iridium NEXT, which we expect to commence launching in early 2015. While we expect our current constellation to provide a commercially acceptable level of service through the transition to Iridium NEXT, we cannot guarantee it will do so. If we are unable, for any reason, including as a result of insufficient funds, manufacturing or launch delays, launch failures, in-orbit satellite failures, inability to achieve or maintain orbital placement, failure of the satellites to perform as expected or delays in receiving regulatory approvals, to effectively deploy Iridium NEXT before our current constellation ceases to provide a commercially acceptable level of service or if we experience backward compatibility problems with our new constellation once deployed, we will likely lose customers and business opportunities to our competitors, resulting in a material decline in revenues and profitability and the inability to service debt as our ability to provide a commercially acceptable level of service is impaired.

Iridium NEXT may not be completed on time, and the costs associated with it may be greater than expected.

We estimate the costs associated with the design, build and launch of Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure upgrades through 2017 will be approximately $3 billion, although our actual costs could substantially exceed this estimate. We may not complete Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure on time, on budget or at all. The design, manufacture and launch of satellite systems are highly complex and historically have been subject to delays and cost over-runs. Development of Iridium NEXT may suffer from additional delays, interruptions or increased costs due to many factors, some of which may be beyond our control, including:

 

   

lower than anticipated internally generated cash flows, including from hosted payload customers;

 

   

the failure to maintain our ability to make draws under the Facility, including by reason of our failure to satisfy any ongoing financial or other condition to making draws;

 

   

operating and other requirements imposed by the lenders under the Facility;

 

   

engineering or manufacturing performance falling below expected levels of output or efficiency;

 

   

complex integration of our ground segment with the Iridium NEXT satellites and the transition from our current constellation;

 

   

denial or delays in receipt of regulatory approvals or non-compliance with conditions imposed by regulatory authorities;

 

   

the breakdown or failure of equipment or systems;

 

   

non-performance by third-party contractors, including the prime system contractor;

 

   

the inability to license necessary technology on commercially reasonable terms or at all;

 

   

use of a new or unproven launch vehicle or the failure of the launch services provider to sustain its business;

 

   

launch delays or failures or in-orbit satellite failures once launched or the decision to manufacture additional replacement satellites for future launches;

 

   

labor disputes or disruptions in labor productivity or the unavailability of skilled labor;

 

   

increases in the costs of materials;

 

   

changes in project scope;

 

   

additional requirements imposed by changes in laws; or

 

   

severe weather or catastrophic events such as fires, earthquakes, storms or explosions.

In addition, we have not entered into contracts for significant portions of the ground segment of Iridium NEXT, and there can be no assurance the development needed to complete Iridium NEXT will be completed on-time, on budget or at all. If the design, manufacture and deployment of Iridium NEXT costs more or takes longer than we anticipate, our ability to continue to develop Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure could be compromised.

 

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Loss of any Iridium NEXT satellite during launch could delay or impair our ability to offer our services, and launch insurance, to the extent available, will not fully cover this risk.

The launch of our Iridium NEXT satellites will be subject to the inherent risk of launch failures, which could result in the loss or destruction of one or more satellites. We have entered into a Contract for Launch Services, or the SpaceX Agreement, with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, pursuant to which SpaceX will provide launch services to us in connection with our deployment of Iridium NEXT. The SpaceX Agreement contemplates eight launches of nine satellites each on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket over a two-year period. SpaceX has a limited operating history and limited financial resources, and the Falcon 9 rocket is a new launch vehicle with a limited launch history, which could expose us to delay, greater risk of launch failure or the need to utilize an alternate launch services provider, which could substantially increase our launch costs. In addition, we are required under the terms of the Facility to enter into an agreement with an alternate launch services provider and to insure a portion of the launch of our Iridium NEXT satellites, and we expect to self-insure the remaining portion. Launch insurance currently costs approximately 6% to 15% of the insured value of the satellites launched, including launch costs, but may vary depending on market conditions and the safety record of the launch vehicle. In addition, we expect any launch insurance policies that we obtain to include specified exclusions, deductibles and material change limitations. Typically, these insurance policies exclude coverage for damage arising from acts of war, lasers and other similar potential risks for which exclusions are customary in the industry. If launch insurance rates were to rise substantially, our future launch costs could increase. It is also possible that insurance could become unavailable or prohibitively expensive, either generally or for a specific launch vehicle, or that new insurance could be subject to broader exclusions on coverage or limitations on losses, in which event we would bear the risk of launch failures. Even if a lost satellite is fully insured, acquiring a replacement satellite may be difficult and time consuming and could delay the deployment of Iridium NEXT. Furthermore, launch insurance does not cover lost revenue.

Our satellites have a limited life and may fail prematurely, which would cause our network to be compromised and materially and adversely affect our business, prospects and profitability.

Since we introduced commercial services in 2001, we have experienced seven satellite losses. Six of our satellites have failed in orbit, which has resulted in either the complete loss of the affected satellites or the loss of the ability of the satellite to carry traffic on the network, and one satellite was lost as a result of a collision with a non-operational Russian satellite. Also, our satellites have already exceeded their original design lives, and although actual useful life typically exceeds original design life, the useful lives of our satellites may be shorter than we expect. In addition, additional satellites may fail or collide with space debris or other satellites in the future, and we cannot assure you that our in-orbit spare satellites will be sufficient to replace such satellites or that we will be able to replace them in a timely manner. As a result, while we expect our current constellation to provide a commercially acceptable level of service through the transition to Iridium NEXT, we cannot guarantee we will be able to provide such level of service through the transition period.

In-orbit failure may result from various causes, including component failure, loss of power or fuel, inability to control positioning of the satellite, solar or other astronomical events, including solar radiation and flares, and space debris. Other factors that could affect the useful lives of our satellites include the quality of construction, gradual degradation of solar panels and the durability of components. Radiation-induced failure of satellite components may result in damage to or loss of a satellite before the end of its expected life. As our constellation has aged, some of our satellites have experienced individual component failures affecting their coverage or transmission capacity and other satellites may experience such failures in the future, which could adversely affect the reliability of their service or result in total failure of the satellite. As a result, fewer than 66 of our in-orbit satellites may be fully functioning at any time. Although we do not incur any direct cash costs related to the failure of a satellite, if a satellite fails, we record an impairment charge in our statement of operations reflecting the remaining net book value of that satellite, which could significantly depress our net income for the period in which the failure occurs.

From time to time, we are advised by our customers and end-users of temporary intermittent losses of signal cutting off calls in progress, preventing completions of calls when made or disrupting the transmission of data. If the magnitude or frequency of such problems increase and we are no longer able to provide a commercially acceptable level of service, our business and financial results and our reputation would be hurt and our ability to pursue our business plan would be compromised.

We may be required in the future to make further changes to our constellation to maintain or improve its performance. Any such changes may require prior FCC approval, and the FCC may subject the approval to other conditions that could be unfavorable to our business. In addition, from time to time we may reposition our satellites within the constellation in order to optimize our service, which could result in degraded service during the repositioning period. Although we have some ability to remedy certain types of problems affecting the performance of our satellites remotely from the ground, the physical repair of our satellites in space is not feasible.

 

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Our agreements with U.S. government customers, particularly the DoD, which represent a significant portion of our revenues, are subject to change or termination.

The U.S. government, through a dedicated gateway owned and operated by the DoD, has been and continues to be, directly and indirectly, our largest customer, representing 23% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2010. We provide the majority of our services to the U.S. government pursuant to two contracts, both of which were entered into in April 2008, that provide for a one-year base term and up to four additional one-year options exercisable at the election of the U.S. government. Although the U.S. government has notified us of its intention to exercise the third additional one-year term for both contracts, which will extend the term through March 2012, the U.S. government may terminate these agreements, in whole or in part, at any time. If the U.S. government terminates its agreements with us or fails to renew such agreements, we would lose a significant portion of our revenues.

Our relationship with the U.S. government is subject to the overall U.S. government budget and appropriation decisions and processes. U.S. government budget decisions, including with respect to defense spending, are based on changing government priorities and objectives, which are driven by numerous factors, including geopolitical events and macroeconomic conditions, and are beyond our control. Significant changes to U.S. defense spending, including as a result of the resolution of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, or a significant reduction in U.S. personnel in those countries, could reduce demand for our services and products by the U.S. government.

We are dependent on intellectual property licensed from third parties to operate our constellation and sell our devices and for the enhancement of our existing products and services.

We license critical system technology, including certain software and systems, to operate and maintain our network as well as technical information for the design, manufacture and sale of our devices. This intellectual property is essential to our ability to continue to operate our constellation and sell our services, handsets and data devices. In addition, we are dependent on such third parties to develop enhancements to our current products and services even in circumstances where we own the intellectual property. If any third-party owner of such intellectual property were to terminate any license agreement or cease to support and service this technology or perform development on our behalf, or if we are unable to renew such licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all, it may be difficult, more expensive or impossible to obtain such services from alternative vendors. Any substitute technology may also be costly to develop and integrate, and have lower quality or performance standards, which would adversely affect the quality of our products and services. In connection with the design, manufacture and operation of Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure and the development of new products and services to be offered on Iridium NEXT, we may be required to obtain additional intellectual property rights from third parties. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain such intellectual property rights on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we are unable to obtain such intellectual property rights or are unable to obtain such rights on commercially reasonable terms, we may not complete Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure on budget or at all or may not be able to develop new products and services to be offered on Iridium NEXT.

Our products could fail to perform or perform at reduced levels of service because of technological malfunctions or deficiencies or events outside of our control which would seriously harm our business and reputation.

Our products and services are subject to the risks inherent in a large-scale, complex telecommunications system employing advanced technology. Any disruption to our satellites, services, information systems or telecommunications infrastructure could result in the inability of our customers to receive our services for an indeterminate period of time. These customers include government agencies conducting mission-critical work throughout the world, as well as consumers and businesses located in remote areas of the world and operating under harsh environmental conditions where traditional telecommunications services may not be readily available. Any disruption to our services or extended periods of reduced levels of service could cause us to lose customers or revenue, result in delays or cancellations of future implementations of our products and services, result in failure to attract customers or result in litigation, customer service or repair work that would involve substantial costs and distract management from operating our business. The failure of any of the diverse elements of our system, including our satellites, our commercial gateway, or our satellite network operations center to function as required could render our system unable to perform at the quality and capacity levels required for success. Any system failures, repeated product failures or shortened product life or extended reduced levels of service could reduce our sales, increase costs or result in warranty or liability claims, cause us to extend our warranty period and seriously harm our business. As we and our partners introduce new consumer-oriented products, such as personal locator beacons, our risk of product liability litigation resulting from a disruption to our services may increase.

Additional satellites may collide with space debris or another spacecraft, which could adversely affect the performance of our constellation and business.

In February 2009, we lost an operational satellite as a result of a collision with a non-operational Russian satellite. Although we have some ability to actively maneuver our satellites to avoid potential collisions with space debris or other spacecraft, this ability is limited by, among other factors, various uncertainties and inaccuracies in the projected orbit location of and predicted conjunctions with debris objects tracked and cataloged by the U.S. government. Additionally, some space debris is too small to be tracked and therefore its orbital location is completely unknown; nevertheless this debris is still large enough to potentially cause severe damage or a failure of our satellites should a collision occur. If our constellation experiences additional satellite collisions with space debris or other spacecraft, our service could be impaired.

The space debris created by the February 2009 satellite collision may cause damage to other spacecraft positioned in a similar orbital altitude.

The collision of one of our satellites with a non-operational Russian satellite created a space debris field concentrated in the orbital altitude where the collision occurred, and thus increased the risk of space debris damaging or interfering with the operation of our satellites, which travel in this orbital altitude, and satellites owned by third parties, such as U.S. or foreign governments or agencies and other satellite operators. Although there are tools used by us and providers of tracking services, such as the U.S. Joint Space Operations Center, to detect, track and identify space debris, we or third parties may not be able to maneuver the satellites away from such debris in a timely manner. Any such collision could potentially expose us to significant losses and liability if we were found to be at fault.

 

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As our product portfolio expands, our failure to manage growth effectively could impede our ability to execute our business plan and we may experience increased costs or disruption in our operations.

We currently face a variety of challenges, including maintaining the infrastructure and systems necessary for us to operate as a public company and managing the growth of our business. As our product portfolio continues to expand, the responsibilities of our management team and other company resources also grow. Consequently, we may further strain our management and other company resources with the increased complexities and administrative burdens associated with a larger, more complex product portfolio. Our failure to meet these challenges as a result of insufficient management or other resources could significantly impede our ability to execute our business plan. To properly manage our growth, we may need to hire and retain personnel, upgrade our existing operational management and financial and reporting systems and improve our business processes and controls. Failure to effectively manage the expansion of our product portfolio in a cost-effective manner could result in declines in product and service quality and customer satisfaction, increased costs or disruption of our operations.

If we experience operational disruptions with respect to our commercial gateway or operations center, we may not be able to provide service to our customers.

Our commercial satellite network traffic is supported by a primary ground station gateway in Tempe, Arizona. In addition, we operate our satellite constellation from our satellite network operations center in Leesburg, Virginia. Currently, we do not have a back-up facility for our gateway, and we would not be able to implement our backup to the Virginia operations center in real time if either of those facilities experienced a catastrophic failure. Both facilities are subject to the risk of significant malfunctions or catastrophic loss due to unanticipated events and would be difficult to replace or repair and could require substantial lead-time to do so. Material changes in the operation of these facilities may be subject to prior FCC approval, and the FCC might not give such approval or may subject the approval to other conditions that could be unfavorable to our business. Our gateway and operations center may also experience service shutdowns or periods of reduced service in the future as a result of equipment failure, delays in deliveries or regulatory issues. Any such failure would impede our ability to provide service to our customers.

We may be unable to obtain and maintain contractually required liability insurance, and the insurance we obtain may not cover all liabilities to which we may become subject.

Pursuant to the TSA and pursuant to the Indemnification Agreement, Iridium Satellite is required to maintain an in-orbit liability insurance policy with a de-orbiting endorsement. The current policy together with the de-orbiting endorsement covers amounts that Iridium Satellite and other named parties may become liable to pay for bodily injury and property damages to third parties related to processing, maintaining and operating our satellite constellation and, in the case of the de-orbiting endorsement, de-orbiting our satellite constellation. The current policy has a one-year term, which expires December 12, 2011 and excludes coverage for all third-party damages relating to the 2009 collision of our satellite with a non-operational Russian satellite. The price, terms and availability of insurance have fluctuated significantly since we began offering commercial satellite services. The cost of obtaining insurance can vary as a result of either satellite failures or general conditions in the insurance industry. Higher premiums on insurance policies would increase our cost. In-orbit liability insurance policies on satellites may not continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In addition to higher premiums, insurance policies may provide for higher deductibles, shorter coverage periods and additional policy exclusions. For example, our current de-orbit insurance covers only twelve months from attachment and therefore would not cover losses arising outside that timeframe. Our failure to renew Iridium Satellite’s current in-orbit liability insurance policy or obtain a replacement policy would trigger de-orbit rights held by the U.S. government and Boeing, which, if exercised, would eliminate our ability to provide mobile satellite communications services. See “—The U.S. government, Motorola and Boeing may unilaterally require us to de-orbit our current constellation upon the occurrence of certain events” below for more information. In addition, even if Iridium Satellite continues to maintain an in-orbit liability insurance policy, the coverage may not protect us against all third-party losses, which could be material.

Iridium Satellite’s current in-orbit liability insurance policy contains, and we expect any future policies would likewise contain, specified exclusions and material change limitations customary in the industry. These exclusions may relate to, among other things, losses resulting from in-orbit collisions such as the one we experienced in 2009, acts of war, insurrection, terrorism or military action, government confiscation, strikes, riots, civil commotions, labor disturbances, sabotage, unauthorized use of the satellites and nuclear or radioactive contamination, as well as claims directly or indirectly occasioned as a result of noise, pollution, electrical and electromagnetic interference and interference with the use of property.

 

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In addition to Iridium Satellite’s in-orbit liability insurance policy, we are required under the Indemnification Agreement to purchase product liability insurance to cover potential liability of Motorola, as the manufacturer of the satellites in our current constellation. We may not in the future be able to renew this product liability coverage on reasonable terms and conditions, or at all. Any failure by us to maintain this insurance could increase our exposure to third-party damages that may be caused by any of our satellites. If Iridium Satellite is unable to obtain such insurance on commercially reasonable terms and the U.S. government has not agreed to cover the amounts that would have otherwise been paid by such insurance, Motorola could invoke its de-orbit rights which, if exercised, would eliminate our ability to provide mobile satellite communications services. See “—The U.S. government, Motorola and Boeing may unilaterally require us to de-orbit our current constellation upon the occurrence of specified events” below for more information.

We do not maintain in-orbit insurance covering our losses from satellite failures or other operational problems affecting our constellation.

We do not maintain in-orbit insurance covering losses that might arise as a result of a satellite failure or other operational problems affecting our constellation. The terms of the Facility, however, will require us to obtain and maintain such insurance for the Iridium NEXT satellites for a period of 12 months after launch. We may not be able to obtain such insurance on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are not able to obtain in-orbit insurance, we may be unable to obtain a waiver which would trigger an event of default and would likely accelerate repayment of all outstanding borrowings. Even if we obtain in-orbit insurance in the future, the coverage may not be sufficient to compensate us for satellite failures and other operational problems affecting our satellites, as it may either contain large deductible amounts or provide reimbursement only after a specified number of satellite failures. As a result, a failure of one or more of our satellites or the occurrence of equipment failures and other related problems could constitute an uninsured loss and could harm our financial condition.

We may be negatively affected by current global economic conditions.

Our operations and performance depend significantly on worldwide economic conditions. Uncertainty about current global economic conditions poses a risk as individual consumers, businesses and governments may postpone spending in response to tighter credit, negative financial news, declines in income or asset values or budgetary constraints. Reduced demand would cause a decline in our revenues and make it more difficult for us to operate profitably, potentially compromising our ability to pursue our business plan. While we expect the number of our subscribers and revenues to continue to grow, we expect the future growth rate will be slower than our historical growth and may not continue in every quarter of every year. We expect our future growth rate will be impacted by the current economic slowdown, increased competition, maturation of the satellite communications industry and the difficulty in sustaining high growth rates as we increase in size. Any substantial appreciation of the U.S. dollar may also negatively impact our growth by increasing the cost of our products and services in foreign countries.

We could lose market share and revenues as a result of increasing competition from companies in the wireless communications industry, including cellular and other satellite operators, and from the extension of land-based communications services.

We face intense competition in all of our markets, which could result in a loss of customers and lower revenues and make it more difficult for us to enter new markets. We compete primarily on the basis of coverage, quality, portability and pricing of services and products.

The provision of satellite-based services and products is subject to downward price pressure when capacity exceeds demand or as a result of aggressive discounting by some operators under financial pressure to expand their respective market share. In addition, we may face competition from new competitors, new technologies or new equipment. For example, we may face competition for our land-based services in the United States from incipient ATC service providers who are currently raising capital and designing a satellite operating business and a terrestrial component around their spectrum holdings. In addition, some of our competitors have announced plans for the launch of additional satellites. As a result of competition, we may not be able to successfully retain our existing customers and attract new customers.

In addition to our satellite-based competitors, terrestrial voice and data service providers, both wireline and wireless, could further expand into rural and remote areas and provide the same general types of services and products that we provide through our satellite-based system. Although satellite communications services and terrestrial communications services are not perfect substitutes, the two compete in some markets and for some services. Consumers generally perceive terrestrial wireless voice communication products and services as cheaper and more convenient than those that are satellite-based. Many of our terrestrial competitors have greater resources, wider name recognition and newer technologies than we do. In addition, industry consolidation could hurt us by increasing the scale or scope of our competitors and thereby making it more difficult for us to compete.

 

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Much of the hardware and software we use in operating our gateway was designed and manufactured over ten years ago, and portions are becoming more difficult and expensive to service, upgrade or replace.

Much of the hardware and software we use in operating our gateway was designed and manufactured over ten years ago and portions are becoming obsolete. As they continue to age, they may become less reliable and will be more difficult and expensive to service, upgrade or replace. Although we maintain inventories of some spare parts, it nonetheless may be difficult or impossible to obtain all necessary replacement parts for the hardware. Our business plan contemplates updating or replacing some of the hardware and software in our network, but the age of our existing hardware and software may present us with technical and operational challenges that complicate or otherwise make it not feasible to carry out our planned upgrades and replacements, and the expenditure of resources, both from a monetary and human capital perspective, may exceed our estimates. Without upgrading and replacing our equipment, obsolescence of the technologies that we use could have a material adverse affect on our revenues, profitability and liquidity.

Rapid and significant technological changes in the satellite communications industry may impair our competitive position and require us to make significant additional capital expenditures.

The satellite communications industry is subject to rapid advances and innovations in technology. We may face competition in the future from companies using new technologies and new satellite systems. New technology could render our system obsolete or less competitive by satisfying customer demand in more attractive ways or through the introduction of incompatible standards. Particular technological developments that could adversely affect us include the deployment by our competitors of new satellites with greater power, flexibility, efficiency or capabilities than our current constellation or Iridium NEXT, as well as continuing improvements in terrestrial wireless technologies. For us to keep up with technological changes and remain competitive, we may need to make significant capital expenditures, including capital to design and launch new products and services on Iridium NEXT, which are not included in our current cost estimates. Customer acceptance of the products and services that we offer will continually be affected by technology-based differences in our product and service offerings compared to those of our competitors. New technologies may be protected by patents or other intellectual property laws and therefore may not be available to us. Any failure by us to implement new technology within our system may compromise our ability to compete.

Use by our competitors of L-band spectrum for terrestrial services could interfere with our services.

In February 2003, the FCC adopted rules that permit satellite service providers to establish ATC networks. In July 2010, the FCC initiated a notice of inquiry to consider revising these rules. ATC frequencies are designated in previously satellite-only bands. The implementation of ATC services by satellite service providers in the United States or other countries may result in increased competition for the right to use L-band spectrum in the 1.6 GHz band, which we use to provide our services, and such competition may make it difficult for us to obtain or retain the spectrum resources we require for our existing and future services. In addition, the FCC’s decision to permit ATC services was based on assumptions relating to the level of interference that the provision of ATC services would likely cause to other satellite service providers that use the L-band spectrum. If the FCC’s assumptions prove inaccurate, or the level of ATC services provided exceeds those estimated by the FCC, ATC services could interfere with our satellites and devices, which may adversely impact our services. Outside the United States, other countries are actively considering implementing regulations to facilitate ATC services.

Our networks and those of our third-party service providers may be vulnerable to security risks.

We expect the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks to continue to be a critical element of our operations. Our network and those of our third-party service providers and our customers may be vulnerable to unauthorized access, computer viruses and other security problems. Persons who circumvent security measures could wrongfully obtain or use information on the network or cause interruptions, delays or malfunctions in our operations, any of which could harm our reputation, cause demand for our products and services to fall and compromise our ability to pursue our business plans. Recently, there have been reported a number of significant, wide-spread security breaches that have compromised network integrity for many companies and governmental agencies, in some cases reportedly originating from outside the United States in countries such as China. In addition, there are reportedly private products available in the market today which attempt to unlawfully intercept communications made on our network. We may be required to expend significant resources to protect against the threat of security breaches or to alleviate problems, including reputational harm and litigation, caused by any breaches. In addition, our customer contracts, in general, do not contain provisions which would protect us against liability to third-parties with whom our customers conduct business. Although we have implemented and intend to continue to implement industry-standard security measures, these measures may prove to be inadequate and result in system failures and delays that could lower network availability which could harm our business.

 

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We are dependent on third parties to market and sell our products and services.

We rely on third-party distributors to market and sell our products and services to end-users and to determine the prices end-users pay. We also depend on our distributors to develop innovative and improved solutions and applications integrating our product and service offerings. As a result of these arrangements, we are dependent on the performance of our distributors to generate substantially all of our revenues. Our distributors operate independently of us, and we have limited control over their operations, which exposes us to significant risks. Distributors may not commit the necessary resources to market and sell our products and services and may also market and sell competitive products and services. In addition, our distributors may not comply with the laws and regulatory requirements in their local jurisdictions, which may limit their ability to market or sell our products and services. If current or future distributors do not perform adequately, or if we are unable to locate competent distributors in particular countries and secure their services on favorable terms, or at all, we may be unable to increase or maintain our revenues in these markets or enter new markets, we may not realize our expected growth, and our brand image and reputation could be hurt.

In addition, we may lose distributors due to competition, consolidation, regulatory developments, business developments affecting our distributors or their customers or for other reasons. Any future consolidation of our distributors would further increase our reliance on a few key distributors of our services and the amount of volume discounts that we may have to give such distributors. Our two largest distributors, Stratos and Vizada, represented 10% and 9%, respectively, of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010, and our ten largest distributors represented, in the aggregate, 45.2% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2010. The loss of any of these distributors could reduce the distribution of our products and services as well the development of new product solutions and applications.

We rely on a limited number of key vendors for timely supply of equipment and services.

Celestica is the manufacturer of all of our current devices, including our mobile handsets, L-Band transceivers and short-burst data modems. Celestica may choose to terminate its business relationship with us when its current contractual obligations are completed on January 1, 2012, or at such earlier time as contemplated by our current agreement with Celestica. If Celestica terminates this relationship, we may not be able to find a replacement supplier in a timely manner, at an acceptable price, or at all. In addition, as our sole supplier, we are very dependent on Celestica’s performance. If our key vendors, including Celestica, have difficulty manufacturing or obtaining the necessary parts or material to manufacture our products, we could lose sales. In addition, we utilize other sole source suppliers for certain component parts of our devices. If such suppliers terminated their relationships with us or were otherwise unable to manufacture our component parts, these vendors would be unable to manufacture our products. Due to the global economic downturn, manufacturers and suppliers have been forced to implement cost-saving measures, including reductions in force and reductions in inventory. Consequently, such key manufacturers and suppliers may become capacity constrained, resulting in a shortage or interruption in supplies or an inability to meet increased demand. In addition, our manufacturers and suppliers could themselves experience a shortage of the parts or components that they use to manufacture equipment for us. If these manufacturers or suppliers fail to provide equipment or service to us on a timely basis or fail to meet our performance expectations, we may be unable to provide products or services to our customers in a competitive manner, which could in turn negatively impact our financial results. Although we may replace Celestica or other sole source suppliers with another supplier, there could be a substantial period of time in which our products are not available and any new relationship may involve higher costs and delays in development and delivery, and we may encounter technical challenges in successfully replicating the manufacturing processes.

In addition, we depend on Boeing to provide operations and maintenance services with respect to our satellite network, including engineering, systems analysis and operations and maintenance services, from our technical support center in Chandler, Arizona and our satellite network operations center in Leesburg, Virginia. Boeing provides these services pursuant to the O&M Agreement, whose term is concurrent with the expected useful life of our current constellation. Technological competence is critical to our business and depends, to a significant degree, on the work of technically skilled personnel, such as our Boeing contractors. If Boeing’s performance falls below expected levels or if Boeing has difficulties retaining the personnel servicing our network, the operations of our satellite network could be compromised. In addition, if Boeing terminates its agreement with us, we may not be able to find a replacement provider on favorable terms or at all, which could impair the operations and performance of our network. Replacing Boeing as the operator of our satellite system could also trigger de-orbit rights held by the U.S. government, which, if exercised, would eliminate our ability to offer satellite communications services altogether.

We have been and may in the future become subject to claims that our products violate the patent or intellectual property rights of others, which could be costly and disruptive to us.

We operate in an industry that is susceptible to significant intellectual property litigation. As a result, we or our products may become subject to intellectual property infringement claims or litigation. The defense of intellectual property suits is both costly and time consuming, even if ultimately successful, and may divert management’s attention from other business concerns. An adverse determination in litigation to which we may become a party could, among other things:

 

   

subject us to significant liabilities to third parties, including treble damages;

 

   

require disputed rights to be licensed from a third party for royalties that may be substantial;

 

   

require us to cease using such technology; or

 

   

prohibit us from selling some or all of our products or offering some or all of our services.

 

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Conducting and expanding our operations outside the United States creates numerous risks; these risks may harm our operations and our ability to expand our geographic operations.

We have significant operations outside the United States. According to our estimates, commercial data traffic originating outside the United States, excluding Iridium OpenPort traffic, accounted for 66.7% of total commercial data traffic for the year ended December 31, 2010, while commercial voice traffic originating outside the United States, excluding Iridium OpenPort traffic, accounted for 90.0% of total commercial voice traffic for the year ended December 31, 2010. We cannot provide the precise geographical distribution of end-users because we do not contract directly with them. Instead, we determine the country in which we earn our revenues based on where we invoice our distributors. These distributors sell services directly or indirectly to end-users, who may be located or use our products and services elsewhere. We are also seeking authorization to offer to sell our services in Russia, China and India.

Conducting operations outside the United States involves numerous special risks and, while expanding our international operations would advance our growth, it would also increase these risks. These include:

 

   

difficulties in penetrating new markets due to established and entrenched competitors;

 

   

difficulties in developing products and services that are tailored to the needs of local customers;

 

   

lack of local acceptance or knowledge of our products and services;

 

   

lack of recognition of our products and services;

 

   

unavailability of or difficulties in establishing relationships with distributors;

 

   

significant investments, including the development and deployment of dedicated gateways, as certain countries require physical gateways within their jurisdiction to connect the traffic coming to and from their territory;

 

   

instability of international economies and governments;

 

   

changes in laws and policies affecting trade and investment in other jurisdictions;

 

   

exposure to varying legal standards, including intellectual property protection in other jurisdictions;

 

   

difficulties in obtaining required regulatory authorizations;

 

   

difficulties in enforcing legal rights in other jurisdictions;

 

   

local domestic ownership requirements;

 

   

requirements that certain operational activities be performed in-country;

 

   

changing and conflicting national and local regulatory requirements; and

 

   

foreign currency exchange rates and exchange controls.

These risks could affect our ability to successfully compete and expand internationally.

Government organizations, foreign military and intelligence agencies, natural disaster aid associations and event-driven response agencies use our commercial voice and data satellite communications services. Accordingly, we may experience reductions in usage due to changing global circumstances, including as a result of the resolution of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, or a significant reduction in U.S. and foreign personnel in those countries.

The prices for our products and services are typically denominated in U.S. dollars. Any appreciation of the U.S. dollar against other currencies will increase the cost of our products and services to our international customers and, as a result, may reduce the competitiveness of our international offerings and make it more difficult for us to grow internationally.

We are currently unable to offer service in important regions of the world due to regulatory requirements, which is limiting our growth and our ability to compete.

Our ability to provide service in certain regions is limited by local regulations as some countries, including Russia, China and India, have specific regulatory requirements such as local domestic ownership requirements or requirements for physical gateways within their jurisdiction to connect traffic coming to and from their territory. While we are currently in discussions with parties in these countries to satisfy these regulatory requirements, we may not be able to find an acceptable local partner or reach an agreement to develop additional gateways, or the cost of developing and deploying such gateways may be prohibitive, which could impair our ability to expand our product and service offerings in such areas and undermine our value for potential users who require service in these areas. Also, other countries where we already provide service may impose similar requirements, which could restrict our ability to continue to provide service in such countries. The inability to offer to sell our products and services in all major international markets could impair our international growth. In addition, the construction of such gateways in foreign countries may trigger and require us to comply with various U.S. regulatory requirements which may be in tension with or contravene the laws or regulations of the local jurisdiction. Such tensions could limit, delay or otherwise interfere with our ability to construct gateways or other infrastructure or network solutions around the world.

 

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The U.S. government, Motorola and Boeing may unilaterally require us to de-orbit our current constellation upon the occurrence of specified events.

When Iridium Satellite purchased the assets of Iridium LLC out of bankruptcy, Boeing, Motorola and the U.S. government required specified de-orbit rights as a way to control potential liability risk arising from future operation of the constellation, and provide for the U.S. government’s obligation to indemnify Motorola pursuant to the Indemnification Agreement described below. As a result, the Indemnification Agreement was entered into among Iridium Satellite, Boeing, Motorola and the U.S. government, as subsequently amended in September 2010, giving the U.S. government the right to, in its sole discretion, require us to de-orbit our constellation in the event of (a) Iridium Satellite’s failure to maintain certain insurance and pay certain insurance premiums; (b) Iridium Satellite’s bankruptcy; (c) Iridium Satellite’s sale or the sale of any major asset in our satellite system; (d) Boeing’s replacement as the operator of our satellite system; (e) Iridium Satellite’s failure to provide certain notices as contemplated by the Indemnification Agreement; or (f) at any time after January 1, 2015. Prior to the September 2010 amendment of the Indemnification Agreement, the U.S. government had the right to require us to de-orbit our constellation at any time after June 5, 2009. Pursuant to the September 2010 amendment, the U.S. government may withdraw its agreement to postpone the exercise of its de-orbit right (i) on or after January 1, 2015; (ii) if Iridium Satellite violates any terms of the Indemnification Agreement or fails to comply with any terms of the September 2010 amendment; (iii) if more than four satellites have insufficient fuel to execute a 12-month de-orbit; (iv) if Iridium Satellite fails to comply with the de-boost plans; (v) upon a finding by the FCC, not remedied by Iridium Satellite in the time set forth by the FCC, that Iridium Satellite has failed to comply with the terms of the Iridium Orbital Debris Mitigation Plan filed with the FCC and then in effect; (vi) upon the cancellation, non-renewal or refusal to provide any insurance required by the Indemnification Agreement; and (vii) upon the termination or completion of the current or any successor agreement between Iridium Satellite and the DoD pursuant to which Iridium Satellite provides mobile satellite services to the DoD. The U.S. government also has the right to require us to de-orbit any of our individual functioning satellites, including in-orbit spares, that have been in orbit for more than seven years, unless the U.S. government grants a postponement. All of our functioning satellites have been in orbit for more than seven years.

Motorola also has the right to require us to de-orbit our constellation pursuant to the TSA and pursuant to the O&M Agreement. Under these agreements, Motorola may require the de-orbit of our constellation upon the occurrence of any of the following: (a) the bankruptcy of our company, Iridium Holdings, Iridium Constellation or Iridium Satellite; (b) Iridium Satellite’s breach of the TSA; (c) Boeing’s breach of the O&M Agreement or a related agreement between Boeing and Motorola; (d) an order from the U.S. government requiring the de-orbiting of our satellites; (e) Motorola’s determination that changes in law or regulation may require it to incur specified costs relating to the operation, maintenance, re-orbiting or de-orbiting of our constellation; or (f) our failure to obtain, on commercially reasonable terms, product liability insurance to cover Motorola’s position as manufacturer of the satellites, provided the U.S. government has not agreed to cover what would have otherwise been paid by such policy.

Pursuant to the O&M Agreement, Boeing similarly has the unilateral right to de-orbit our constellation upon the occurrence of any of the following events: (a) Iridium Constellation’s failure to pay Boeing in accordance with the terms of the O&M Agreement; (b) Iridium Constellation’s or Iridium Satellite’s bankruptcy; (c) Iridium Constellation’s failure to maintain certain insurance policies; (d) a default by Iridium Constellation under the O&M Agreement; or (e) changes in law or regulation that may increase the risks or costs associated with the operation or de-orbit process or the cost of operation or de-orbit of the constellation.

We cannot guarantee that the U.S. government, Motorola or Boeing will not unilaterally exercise their de-orbiting rights upon the occurrence of any of the above events. If we were required to de-orbit our constellation, we would be unable to continue to provide mobile satellite communications services.

Wireless devices’ radio frequency emissions are the subject of regulation and litigation concerning their environmental effects, which includes alleged health and safety risks. As a result, we may be subject to new regulations, demand for our services may decrease and we could face liability based on alleged health risks.

There has been adverse publicity concerning alleged health risks associated with radio frequency transmissions from portable hand-held telephones that have transmitting antennae. Lawsuits have been filed against participants in the wireless industry alleging various adverse health consequences, including cancer, as a result of wireless phone usage. Other claims allege consumer harm from alleged failures to disclose certain information about radio frequency emissions, or aspects of the regulatory regime governing those emissions. Although we have not been party to any such lawsuits, we may be exposed to such litigation in the future. While we comply with applicable standards for radio frequency emissions and power and do not believe that there is valid scientific evidence that use of our phones poses a health risk, courts or governmental agencies could find otherwise. Any such finding could reduce our revenues and profitability and expose us and other wireless providers to litigation, which, even if frivolous or unsuccessful, could be costly to defend.

 

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If consumers’ health concerns over radio frequency emissions increase, they may be discouraged from using wireless handsets. Further, government authorities might increase regulation of wireless handsets as a result of these health concerns. Any actual or perceived risk from radio frequency emissions could reduce the number of our subscribers and demand for our products and services.

Our business is subject to extensive government regulation, which mandates how we may operate our business and may increase our cost of providing services, slow our expansion into new markets and subject our services to additional competitive pressures or regulatory requirements.

Our ownership and operation of a satellite communications system is subject to significant regulation in the United States by the FCC and in foreign jurisdictions by similar local authorities. The rules and regulations of the FCC or these foreign authorities may change and such authorities may adopt regulations that limit or restrict our operations as presently conducted or as we plan to conduct such operations. Such authorities may also make changes in the licenses of our competitors that impact our spectrum. Failure to provide services in accordance with the terms of our licenses or failure to operate our satellites or ground stations as required by our licenses and applicable laws and government regulations could result in the imposition of government sanctions on us, including the suspension or cancellation of our licenses.

We and our affiliates must pay FCC application processing and annual regulatory fees in connection with our licenses. One of our subsidiaries, Iridium Carrier Services LLC, holds a common carrier radio license and is thus subject to regulation as a common carrier, including limitations and prior approval requirements with respect to direct or indirect foreign ownership. This subsidiary currently qualifies for exemptions from certain common carrier regulations, such as being required to file certain reports or pay certain fees. A change in the manner in which we provide service or a failure to comply with common carrier regulations or pay required fees can result in sanctions including fines, loss of authorizations, or the denial of applications for new authorizations or the renewal of existing authorizations.

Our system must be authorized in each of the markets in which we provide services. We may not be able to obtain or retain all regulatory approvals needed for our operations. Regulatory changes, such as those resulting from judicial decisions or adoption of treaties, legislation or regulation in countries where we currently offer products and services or intend to offer products and services, including the United States, may also significantly affect our business. Because regulations in each country are different, we may not be aware if some of our distribution partners and/or persons with which we or they do business do not hold the requisite licenses and approvals.

We are required to obtain homologation certifications from the national and local authorities in the countries in which we operate in connection with the products that we currently sell or may wish to sell in the future. Failure to obtain such homologation certifications or other industry standard certifications could compromise our ability to generate revenue and conduct our business.

Our current regulatory approvals could now be, or could become, insufficient in the view of domestic or foreign regulatory authorities, any additional necessary approvals may not be granted on a timely basis, or at all, in jurisdictions in which we currently plan to offer products and services, and applicable restrictions in those jurisdictions could become unduly burdensome.

Our operations are subject to regulations of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls relating to the export of satellites and related technical data, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control relating to transactions involving entities sanctioned by the United States, and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security relating to our handsets. We are also required to provide certain U.S. and foreign government law enforcement and security agencies with call interception services, and related government assistance, in respect of which we face legal obligations and restrictions in various jurisdictions. Given our global operations and unique network architecture, these requirements and restrictions are not always easy to harmonize. We have discussed and continue to discuss with authorities in various countries the procedures used to satisfy our obligations, and have had to, and may in the future need to, obtain amendments or waivers to licenses or obligations in various countries. Countries are not obligated to grant requested amendments or waivers, and there can be no assurance that relevant authorities will not suspend or revoke our licenses or take other legal actions to attempt to enforce the requirements of their respective jurisdictions.

These U.S. and foreign obligations and regulations may limit or delay our ability to offer products and services in a particular country. As new laws and regulations are issued, we may be required to modify our business plans or operations. If we fail to comply with these regulations in the United States or any other country, we could be subject to sanctions that could make it difficult or impossible to operate in the United States or such other country. In addition, changing and conflicting national and local regulatory requirements may cause us to be in compliance with local requirements in one country, while not being in compliance with the laws and regulations of another. Any imposition of sanctions, loss of license or failure to obtain the authorizations necessary to use our assigned radio frequency spectrum and to distribute our products in certain countries could cause us to lose sales, hurt our reputation and impair our ability to pursue our business plan.

 

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If the FCC revokes, modifies or fails to renew or amend our licenses our ability to operate will be harmed or eliminated.

FCC licenses we hold, specifically a license for the satellite constellation, licenses for our U.S. gateway and other ground facilities and blanket earth station licenses for U.S. government customers and commercial subscribers, are subject to revocation if we fail to satisfy specified conditions or to meet prescribed milestones. The FCC licenses are also subject to modification by the FCC. While our FCC satellite constellation license is valid until 2013, we applied in October 2010 for a license renewal within the time frame specified by the FCC’s rules. Under the FCC’s rules we may continue to operate our satellite constellation beyond 2013 pending FCC action on our timely filed renewal application. The U.S. gateway earth station licenses expire between 2011 and 2022, and the U.S. government customer and commercial subscribers’ earth station licenses will expire in 2021. We must file renewal applications for earth station licenses between 30 and 90 days prior to expiration. There can be no assurance that the FCC will renew the FCC licenses we hold. If the FCC revokes, modifies or fails to renew or amend the FCC licenses we hold, or if we fail to satisfy any of the conditions of our respective FCC licenses, we may not be able to continue to provide mobile satellite communications services.

Pursuing strategic transactions may cause us to incur additional risks.

We may pursue acquisitions, joint ventures or other strategic transactions, although no such transactions that would be financially significant to us are probable at this time. We may face costs and risks arising from any such transactions, including integrating a new business into our business or managing a joint venture. These risks may include adverse legal, organizational and financial consequences, loss of key customers and distributors and diversion of management’s time.

In addition, any major business combination or similar strategic transaction would require approval under the Facility and may require significant external financing. Depending on market conditions, investor perceptions of our company and other factors, we might not be able to obtain approvals under the Facility or capital on acceptable terms, in acceptable amounts or at appropriate times to implement any such transaction. Any such financing, if obtained, may further dilute existing stockholders.

Spectrum values historically have been volatile, which could cause our value to fluctuate.

Our business plan is evolving and it may in the future include forming strategic partnerships to maximize value for our spectrum, network assets and combined service offerings in the United States and internationally. Values that we may be able to realize from such partnerships will depend in part on the value ascribed to our spectrum. Valuations of spectrum in other frequency bands historically have been volatile, and we cannot predict at what amount a future partner may be willing to value our spectrum and other assets. In addition, to the extent that the FCC takes action that makes additional spectrum available or promotes the more flexible use or greater availability of existing satellite or terrestrial spectrum allocations, for example by means of spectrum leasing or new spectrum sales, the availability of such additional spectrum could reduce the value of our spectrum authorizations and the value of our business.

Our ability to operate our company effectively could be impaired if we lose members of our senior management team or key technical personnel.

We depend on the continued service of key managerial and technical personnel and personnel with security clearances, as well as our ability to continue to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. We compete for such personnel with other companies, government entities, academic institutions and other organizations. The unexpected loss or interruption of the services of such personnel could compromise our ability to effectively manage our operations, execute our business plan and meet our strategic objectives.

If any of the sellers of Iridium Holdings have breached any of their representations, warranties or covenants set forth in the agreement relating to the Acquisition, our remedies for losses may be limited and we may be limited in our ability to collect for such losses.

Each seller agreed to indemnify us for breaches of its individual representations, warranties and covenants, subject to specified limitations, including that each seller’s maximum liability for all indemnification claims against it will not exceed the sum of (i) the cash consideration received by such seller and (ii) the product of the number of shares of our common stock received by such seller and $10.00. Except for a pledge of 1.5 million shares of our common stock by one seller, which expires two years after the closing of the Acquisition, there are no escrow or other similar arrangements with any of the sellers and, in the event we suffer losses from a breach of a seller’s representations, warranties or covenants, there can be no assurances that such seller will have the cash consideration or shares of our common stock received by such seller, or other available assets, to compensate us for our losses. Any losses realized in connection with the breach of any representation, warranty or covenant by any seller may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

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The market price of our common stock may be volatile.

The trading price of our common stock may be subject to substantial fluctuations. Factors affecting the trading price of our common stock may include:

 

   

failure in the performance of our current or future satellites or a delay in the launch of Iridium NEXT;

 

   

failure to sign hosted payload customers for our Iridium NEXT satellites;

 

   

failure to comply with the terms of the Facility;

 

   

failure to maintain our ability to make draws under the Facility;

 

   

actual or anticipated variations in our operating results, including termination or expiration of one or more of our key contracts, or a change in sales levels under one or more of our key contracts;

 

   

significant stockholders exercising their registration rights and selling a large number of shares of our common stock;

 

   

dilutive impact of outstanding warrants and stock options;

 

   

changes in financial estimates by industry analysts, or any failure by us to meet or exceed any such estimates, or changes in the recommendations of any industry analysts that elect to follow our common stock or the common stock of our competitors;

 

   

actual or anticipated changes in economic, political or market conditions, such as recessions or international currency fluctuations;

 

   

actual or anticipated changes in the regulatory environment affecting our industry;

 

   

changes in the market valuations of our competitors;

 

   

low trading volume; and

 

   

announcements by our competitors regarding significant new products or services or significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, divestitures, joint ventures or other strategic initiatives.

The trading price of our common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies in our industry even if these events do not directly affect us. If the market for stocks in our industry, or the stock market in general, experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, the trading volume for our common stock historically has been low. Sales of significant amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market could lower the market price of our stock.

We do not expect to pay dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

We do not currently pay cash dividends on our common stock and, because we currently intend to retain all cash we generate to fund the growth of our business and the Facility restricts the payment of dividends, we do not expect to pay dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

 

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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

 

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Item 2. Properties

Our principal headquarters are located in McLean, Virginia, where we currently lease 21,573 square feet of office space. We also own or lease the facilities described in the following table:

 

Location

  

Country

   Approximate
Square Feet
    

Facilities

  

Owned/Leased

Chandler, Arizona

   USA      68,000       Technical Support Center, Distribution Center and Warehouse    Leased

Leesburg, Virginia

   USA      40,000       Satellite Network Operations Center    Owned

Tempe, Arizona

   USA      31,000       Gateway Earth Station    Owned Building on Leased Land

Tempe, Arizona

   USA      25,000       Operations and Finance Office Space    Leased

Bethesda, Maryland

   USA      13,400       Former Corporate Headquarters    Leased

Fairbanks, Alaska

   USA      4,000       Satellite Earth Station Facility    Owned

Svalbard

   Norway      1,800       Satellite Earth Station Facility    Owned Building on Leased Land

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

   Canada      1,800       Telemetry, Tracking and Control Station    Owned Building on Leased Land

Iqaluit, Nunavut

   Canada      1,800       Telemetry, Tracking and Control Station    Owned Building on Leased Land

 

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

On October 1, 2010, we, together with Iridium Satellite and Iridium Holdings, entered into a settlement agreement dated as of September 30, 2010, or the Settlement Agreement, with Motorola to fully and finally settle the litigation filed by Motorola against Iridium Satellite and Iridium Holdings in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, County Department—Chancery Division (captioned Motorola, Inc. vs. Iridium Satellite LLC and Iridium Holdings LLC, Docket No. 10 CH 05684), which was previously reported in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, which contains no admission of liability by any party, and other agreements executed at the same time, Iridium Satellite will pay Motorola $46.0 million, in consideration of payment of debt of $15.4 million otherwise due during 2010, expanded intellectual property licenses, the conversion of existing intellectual property licenses from being royalty-based to prepaid, transfer to us of ownership of certain intellectual property rights and termination of Motorola’s rights to distributions and payments based on the value of our company upon certain “triggering events.”

Neither we nor any of our subsidiaries are currently subject to any material legal proceeding, nor, to our knowledge, is any material legal proceeding threatened against us or any of our subsidiaries.

 

Item 4. Removed and Reserved

PART II

 

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock was listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “IRDM” from September 24, 2009 through December 31, 2010. Our common stock is currently listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Prior to September 24, 2009, our common stock was listed on the NYSE Amex. The following table sets forth, for the quarters indicated, the quarterly high and low sales prices of our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Market since our transfer of listing on September 24, 2009, and on the NYSE Amex prior to such date.

 

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     Common Stock  
     High      Low  

Quarter ended March 31, 2009

   $     9.45       $     9.03   

Quarter ended June 30, 2009

     9.87         9.33   

Quarter ended September 30, 2009

     12.00         9.68   

Quarter ended December 31, 2009

     11.66         7.77   

Quarter ended March 31, 2010

     8.89         6.27   

Quarter ended June 30, 2010

     10.35         6.50   

Quarter ended September 30, 2010

     11.13         8.28   

Quarter ended December 31, 2010

     9.92         8.05   

On March 4, 2011, the closing price of our common stock was $9.30. As of March 4, 2011, there were 83 holders of record of our common stock.

Dividend Policy

We have not paid any dividends on our common stock to date. We are currently restricted from declaring, making or paying dividends pursuant to our credit facility agreement (See Note 5 in “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”), and we do not anticipate that our Board of Directors will declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.

Stock Price Performance Graph

The graph below compares the cumulative total return of our common stock from March 20, 2008, the date that our common stock first became separately tradable, through December 31, 2010 with the comparable cumulative return of three indices, the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index and the NASDAQ Telecommunications Index. The graph plots the growth in value of an initial investment of $100 in each of our common stock, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index, the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ Telecommunications Index over the indicated time periods, and assuming reinvestment of all dividends, if any, paid on our the securities. We have not paid any cash dividends and, therefore, the cumulative total return calculation for us is based solely upon stock price appreciation and not upon reinvestment of cash dividends. The stock price performance shown on the graph is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.

LOGO

 

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     3/20/08      12/31/08      12/31/09      12/31/10  

Iridium Communications Inc.

   $ 100.00       $ 99.12       $ 88.44       $ 90.86   

S&P 500 Index

   $ 100.00       $ 67.94       $ 83.87       $ 94.59   

Dow Jones Industrial Average Index

   $ 100.00       $ 71.00       $ 84.36       $ 93.66   

NASDAQ Telecommunications Index

   $ 100.00       $ 65.18       $ 96.62       $ 100.41   

The information presented above in the stock performance graph shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C, except to the extent that we subsequently specifically request that such information be treated as soliciting material or specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.

 

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

Iridium Communications Inc.

The following selected historical financial data for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009, 2008, and for the period from November 2, 2007 (inception) to December 31, 2007 was derived from Iridium Communications Inc.’s audited financial statements. The selected financial data below should be read in conjunction with Iridium Communications Inc.’s financial statements and related notes, and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The selected financial data is historical data for Iridium Communications Inc. and is not necessarily indicative of future results of operations.

 

Statement of Operations Data: (a)

   For the Year
Ended
December 31,
2010
     For the Year
Ended
December 31,
2009
    For the Year
Ended
December 31,
2008
    For the
Period from
November 2,
2007
(Inception) to
December 31,
2007
 
     (In thousands, except per share amounts)  

Revenue:

         

Service

   $ 236,351       $ 53,014      $ —        $ —     

Subscriber equipment

     90,184         17,293        —          —     

Engineering and support service

     21,638         5,682        —          —     
                                 

Total revenue

   $ 348,173       $ 75,989      $ —        $ —     

Total operating expenses

   $ 310,813       $ 89,164      $ 2,592      $ 4   

Operating profit (loss)

   $ 37,360       $ (13,175   $ (2,592   $ (4

Net income (loss)

   $ 22,691       $ (44,386   $ 1,656      $ (4

Weighted average shares outstanding – basic

     70,289         53,964        43,268        11,500   

Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted

     72,956         53,964        43,268        11,500   

Net income (loss) per share – basic

   $ 0.32       $ (0.82   $ 0.04      $ (0.00

Net income (loss) per share – diluted

   $ 0.31       $ (0.82   $ 0.04      $ (0.00
     As of December 31,  

Balance Sheet Data:

   2010      2009     2008     2007  
     (In thousands, except share amounts)  

Total current assets

   $ 208,729       $ 220,937      $ 143      $ 184   

Total assets

     1,047,449         826,396        403,150        500   

Total long term obligations

     259,089         109,991        —          —     

Common stock, subject to possible conversion (11,999,999 shares at conversion value at December 31, 2008)

     —           —          119,988        —     

Total stockholders’ equity (b)

     655,519         627,474        270,263        21   

 

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For the

 
                       Period from  
                       November 2,  
                       2007  
                       (Inception) to  
     For the Year Ended December 31,     December 31,  

Other Data

   2010     2009     2008     2007  
     (In thousands)  

Cash provided by (used in):

        

Operating activities

   $ 151,438      $ 23,168      $ 2,086      $ —     

Investing activities

     (242,086     354,537        (401,838     —     

Financing activities

     63,402        (230,656     399,697        184   

 

(a) The year ended December 31, 2010 reflects the results of a full year of operations, while the year ended December 31, 2009 reflects the results of post-Acquisition activities for the three months ended December 31, 2009. The year ended December 31, 2009 included a $34.1 million change in the fair value of warrants due to our determination that the exchange agreements entered into with the holders of 26.8 million warrants were derivative instruments. We conducted no material operating activities for the periods prior to the Acquisition in September 2009.
(b) We have not declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock.

Iridium Holdings LLC – Predecessor Company

The following statement of operations data and cash flow data for the period from January 1, 2009 to September 29, 2009 and the year ended December 31, 2008 were derived from Iridium Holdings’ audited financial statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The balance sheet data for the years ended December 31, 2008, 2007, and 2006, and statement of operations data and cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2006 was derived from Iridium Holdings’ audited financial statements that are not included in this Form 10-K. The selected financial data below should be read in conjunction with Iridium Holdings’ financial statements and related notes, and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. The selected financial data is historical data for Iridium Holdings and is not necessarily indicative of future results of operations.

 

Statement of Operations Data: (a)

   For the Period
from January 1,
2009 to
September 29,
2009
     For the Year
Ended
December 31,
2008
     For the Year
Ended
December 31,
2007
     For the Year
Ended
December 31,
2006
 
     (In thousands, except per unit amounts)  

Revenue:

           

Service

   $ 160,221       $ 184,865       $ 149,179       $ 120,951   

Subscriber equipment

     66,206         119,938         101,879         83,944   

Engineering and support service

     16,524         16,141         9,843         7,517   
                                   

Total revenue

   $ 242,951       $ 320,944       $ 260,901       $ 212,412   

Operating expenses:

           

Cost of subscriber equipment sales

   $ 33,265       $ 67,570       $ 62,439       $ 60,068   

Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

     58,978         69,882         63,614         60,685   

Selling, general and administrative

     44,505         55,105         46,350         33,468   

Research and development

     17,432         32,774         13,944         4,419   

Depreciation and amortization

     10,850         12,535         11,380         8,541   

Transaction costs

     12,478         7,959         —           —     
                                   

Total operating expenses

   $ 177,508       $ 245,825       $ 197,727       $ 167,181   

Operating profit

   $ 65,443       $ 75,119       $ 63,174       $ 45,231   

Net income

   $ 53,284       $ 53,879       $ 43,773       $ 31,814   

Net income attributable to Class A Units

   $ 36,143       $ 36,456       $ 30,826       $ 22,692   

Weighted average Class A Units outstanding – basic

     1,084         1,084         1,084         840   

Weighted average Class A Units outstanding – diluted

     1,168         1,098         1,084         840   

Earnings per unit – basic

   $ 33.34       $ 33.63       $ 28.44       $ 27.02   

Earnings per unit – diluted

   $ 31.75       $ 33.40       $ 28.44       $ 27.02   

 

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     As of December 31,  

Balance Sheet Data:

   2008     2007     2006  
     (In thousands)  

Total current assets

   $ 101,355      $ 80,342      $ 84,035   

Total assets

     190,569        167,581        161,525   

Total long term obligations (b)

     155,845        178,324        208,225   

Total members’ deficit (c)

     (62,230     (78,447     (121,189

 

Other Data:

   For the Period
from January 1,
2009 to
September 29,
2009
    For the Year
Ended
December 31,

2008
    For the Year
Ended
December 31,

2007
    For the Year
Ended
December 31,

2006
 
     (In thousands)  

Cash provided by (used in):

        

Operating activities

   $ 64,230      $ 61,438      $ 36,560      $ 39,499   

Investing activities

     (7,698     (13,913     (19,787     (9,467

Financing activities

     (23,327     (44,820     (26,526     (8,032

 

(a) Iridium Holdings did not have a full year of operations in 2009 since the Acquisition closed on September 29, 2009.
(b) Long-term obligations are presented net of an unamortized discount associated with a commitment fee to Motorola in connection with the TSA. The balance of the unamortized discount was $1.3 million at December 31, 2008, $1.8 million at December 31, 2007 and $2.3 million at December 31, 2006.
(c) Iridium Holdings did not declare or pay cash dividends on its units.

 

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

You should read the following discussion along with our consolidated financial statements and the consolidated financial statements of Iridium Holdings LLC (our predecessor entity) included in this Form 10-K.

Background

We were formed as GHL Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, on November 2, 2007, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination. We closed an initial public offering of our common stock on February 21, 2008. All of our activity from November 2, 2007 (inception) through February 21, 2008 related to our formation and initial public offering. From February 21, 2008 through September 29, 2009, our activities were limited to identifying prospective target businesses to acquire and completing a business combination, and we were considered to be in the development stage.

On September 29, 2009, we acquired, directly and indirectly, all the outstanding equity of Iridium Holdings LLC, or Iridium Holdings. We refer to this transaction as the Acquisition. Iridium Holdings, its subsidiary Iridium Satellite LLC, or Iridium Satellite, and Iridium Satellite’s subsidiary Iridium Constellation LLC, or Iridium Constellation, were formed under the laws of Delaware in 2000 and were organized as limited liability companies pursuant to the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act. We refer to Iridium Holdings, together with its direct and indirect subsidiaries, as Iridium. On December 11, 2000,

 

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Iridium acquired satellite communications assets from Iridium LLC, a non-affiliated debtor in possession. Iridium and its affiliates held, and following the Acquisition we hold, various licenses and authorizations from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, and from foreign regulatory bodies that permit us to conduct our business, including the operation of our satellite constellation.

Pursuant to the terms of the Acquisition, we purchased all of the outstanding equity of Iridium Holdings. Total consideration included 29.4 million shares of our common stock and $102.6 million in cash, including payments totaling $25.5 million in cash we made in December 2009 and January 2010 to some of the former members of Iridium Holdings for tax benefits we received. Upon the closing of the Acquisition, we changed our name from GHL Acquisition Corp. to Iridium Communications Inc.

We accounted for our business combination with Iridium Holdings as a purchase business combination and recorded all assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their respective Acquisition-date fair values. We were deemed the legal and accounting acquirer and Iridium Holdings the legal and accounting acquiree. Iridium is considered our predecessor and, accordingly, its historical financial statements are deemed to be our predecessor financial statements. Iridium’s historical financial statements are included in this Form 10-K but are presented separately from our financial statements.

As a result of the Acquisition, we recorded the assets and liabilities we acquired from Iridium at fair value, which resulted in a significant increase in the carrying value of our assets and liabilities. The impact of acquisition accounting on our carrying value of inventory, property and equipment, intangible assets and accruals, was an increase of approximately $19.8 million, $348.2 million, $95.5 million and $29.0 million, respectively, compared to Iridium’s balance sheet as of September 29, 2009. Similarly, Iridium’s deferred revenue decreased by $7.4 million. As a result of the effect of acquisition accounting, our cost of subscriber equipment sales increased in the fourth quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010 as compared to those costs and expenses of Iridium in prior periods, and the decrease in the carrying value of deferred revenue caused a decrease in revenue, which we expect will continue through 2011. In addition, the increase in accruals had the effect of reducing cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) since the Acquisition, which we expect will continue into future periods. The increase in property and equipment and intangible assets had the effect of increasing depreciation and amortization expense since the Acquisition, which we expect will continue into future periods.

Overview of Our Business

We are engaged primarily in providing mobile voice and data communications services using a constellation of orbiting satellites. We are the second largest provider of satellite-based mobile voice and data communications services based on revenue, and the only commercial provider of communications services offering 100% global coverage. Our satellite network provides communications services to regions of the world where existing wireless or wireline networks do not exist or are impaired, including extremely remote or rural land areas, airways, open ocean, the polar regions and regions where the telecommunications infrastructure has been affected by political conflicts or natural disasters.

We provide voice and data communications services to businesses, the U.S. and foreign governments, non-governmental organizations and consumers using our constellation of in-orbit satellites and related ground infrastructure, including a primary commercial gateway. We utilize an interlinked, mesh architecture to route traffic across the satellite constellation using radio frequency crosslinks. This unique architecture minimizes the need for ground facilities to support the constellation, which facilitates the global reach of our services and allows us to offer services in countries and regions where we have no physical presence.

We sell our products and services to commercial end-users through a wholesale distribution network, encompassing approximately 71 service providers, 158 value-added resellers, or VARs, and 53 value-added manufacturers, who either sell directly to the end-user or indirectly through other service providers, VARs or dealers. These distributors often integrate our products and services with other complementary hardware and software and have developed a broad suite of applications for our products and services targeting specific vertical markets.

At December 31, 2010, we had approximately 427,000 billable subscribers worldwide, an increase of 85,000 or 24.9% from approximately 342,000 billable subscribers at December 31, 2009. We have a diverse customer base, including end-users in the following vertical markets: land-based handset; maritime; aviation; machine-to-machine, or M2M; and government.

We expect a higher proportion of our future revenue will be derived from services. Voice and M2M data service revenue historically have generated higher gross margin than subscriber equipment revenue. We expect our future revenue growth rates will be somewhat lower than our historical rates primarily due to decreased subscriber equipment revenue growth and the difficulty in sustaining high growth rates as our revenue increases.

 

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We are currently devoting a substantial part of our resources to develop Iridium NEXT, our next-generation satellite constellation, along with the development of new product and service offerings, upgrades to our current services, hardware and software upgrades to maintain our ground infrastructure and upgrades to our business systems. We estimate the aggregate costs associated with the design, build and launch of Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure upgrades through early 2017 to be approximately $3 billion. We believe our new credit facility, described below, together with internally generated cash flow, including potential revenues from hosted payloads, will be sufficient to fully fund the aggregate costs associated with the design, build and launch of Iridium NEXT and related infrastructure upgrades through early 2017. For more information about our sources of funding, see “Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

Full Scale Development and Launch Services Agreements

In June 2010, we, through Iridium Satellite, executed a primarily fixed price full scale development contract, or FSD, with Thales Alenia Space France, or Thales, for the design and manufacture of satellites for Iridium NEXT. The effectiveness of the FSD was contingent upon our securing financing for the FSD, which occurred on October 25, 2010 when we satisfied the conditions for the first borrowing under the $1.8 billion loan facility, or the Facility. The total price under the FSD will be approximately $2.2 billion, and we expect our payment obligations under the FSD to extend into the third quarter of 2017. As of December 31, 2010, we had made total payments of $151.8 million to Thales, which was classified within property and equipment, net, in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2010.

In March 2010, we, through Iridium Satellite, entered into an agreement with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, to secure SpaceX as the primary launch services provider for Iridium NEXT. The effectiveness of this agreement, which we refer to as the SpaceX Agreement, was contingent upon our securing financing for the FSD, which occurred on October 25, 2010. The SpaceX Agreement, as amended, has a maximum price of $492.0 million. As of December 31, 2010, we had made total payments of $43.7 million to SpaceX, which was classified as property and equipment, net, in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2010.

New Credit Facility

On October 4, 2010, Iridium Satellite entered into the Facility with a syndicate of bank lenders. Ninety-five percent of the obligations under the Facility are insured by Compagnie Française d’Assurance pour le Commerce Extérieur, or COFACE. The Facility consists of two tranches, with draws and repayments applied pro rata in respect of each tranche:

 

   

Tranche A – $1,537,500,000 at a fixed rate of 4.96%; and

 

   

Tranche B – $262,500,000 at a floating rate equal to the London Interbank Offer Rate, or LIBOR, plus 1.95%.

In connection with each draw it makes under the Facility, Iridium Satellite will also borrow an amount equal to 6.49% of such draw to cover the premium for the COFACE policy. Iridium Satellite will also pay a commitment fee of 0.80% per year, in semi-annual installments, on any undrawn portion of the Facility beginning on April 4, 2011. In addition, pursuant to separate fee letters entered into at the same time as the Facility, Iridium Satellite paid arrangement fees to the syndicate banks totaling $46.6 million on October 29, 2010. Funds drawn under the Facility will be used for (i) 85% of the costs under the FSD for the design and manufacture of Iridium NEXT and reimbursement to Iridium Satellite for 85% of the amounts it previously paid to Thales under the authorization to proceed, or ATP, which allowed Thales to commence work immediately on the development of satellites prior to the effectiveness of the FSD, (ii) the premium for the COFACE policy and (iii) the payment of a portion of interest during a portion of the construction and launch phase of Iridium NEXT.

 

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Scheduled semi-annual principal repayments will begin six months after the earlier of (i) the successful deployment of a specified number of Iridium NEXT satellites or (ii) September 30, 2017. During this repayment period, interest will be paid on the same date as the principal repayments. Prior to the repayment period, interest payments will be due on a semi-annual basis beginning on April 29, 2011. The Facility will mature seven years after the start of the repayment period. In addition, we are required to maintain minimum debt service reserve levels, which are estimated as follows:

 

At December 31,

   Amount  
     (In millions)  

2011

   $ 27.0   

2012

     54.0   

2013

     81.0   

2014

     108.0   

2015

     135.0   

2016

     162.0   

2017

     189.0   

These levels may be higher once we begin repayments under the Facility. There was no required minimum debt service reserve level at December 31, 2010. Iridium Satellite’s obligations under the Facility are guaranteed by us and our subsidiaries that are obligors under the Facility and are secured on a senior basis by a lien on substantially all of our assets and those of Iridium Satellite and the other obligors.

Iridium Satellite may not prepay any borrowings prior to December 31, 2015. If on that date, a specified number of Iridium NEXT satellites have been successfully launched and we have adequate time and resources to complete the Iridium NEXT constellation on schedule, Iridium Satellite may prepay the borrowings without penalty. In addition, following the completion of the Iridium NEXT constellation, Iridium Satellite may prepay the borrowings without penalty. Any amounts repaid may not be reborrowed. Iridium Satellite must repay the loans in full upon (i) a delisting of our common stock, (ii) a change in control of our company or our ceasing to own 100% of any of the other obligors or (iii) the sale of all or substantially all of our assets. We must apply all or a portion of specified capital raising proceeds, insurance proceeds and condemnation proceeds to the prepayment of the loans. The Facility includes customary representations, events of default, covenants and conditions precedent to drawing of funds. The financial covenants include:

 

   

a minimum cash requirement;

 

   

a minimum debt to equity ratio level;

 

   

maximum capital expenditure levels;

 

   

minimum consolidated operational EBITDA levels;

 

   

minimum cash flow requirements from customers who have hosted payloads on our satellites;

 

   

minimum debt service reserve levels;

 

   

a minimum debt service coverage ratio level; and

 

   

maximum leverage levels.

The covenants also place limitations on our ability and that of our subsidiaries to carry out mergers and acquisitions, dispose of assets, grant security interests, declare, make or pay dividends, enter into transactions with affiliates, fund payments under the FSD from our own resources, incur debt, or make loans, guarantees or indemnities. We were in compliance with all covenants as of December 31, 2010.

As of December 31, 2010, we had borrowed $135.1 million under the Facility. The unused portion of the Facility as of December 31, 2010 was approximately $1.7 billion. We recognized the semi-annual commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the Facility of $2.4 million, which is included in other (expense) income in the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Settlement of Motorola Litigation

On October 1, 2010, we entered into a settlement agreement with Motorola, Inc., or Motorola, pursuant to which the parties settled the litigation previously filed by Motorola against Iridium Satellite and Iridium Holdings in Illinois. On the same date, the parties entered into a series of other agreements. Pursuant to these several agreements, Iridium Satellite agreed to pay Motorola an aggregate of $46.0 million to repay debt of $15.4 million otherwise due in 2010, and $14.9 million in consideration of expanded intellectual property licenses, the conversion of existing intellectual property licenses from being royalty-based to prepaid, the transfer to us of ownership of certain intellectual property rights, and $15.7 million for the termination of Motorola’s rights to distributions and payments based on the value of our company upon certain “triggering events” and mutual releases of claims. Of the total $46.0 million, we paid $23.0 million contemporaneously with the execution of the settlement agreement and the remaining $23.0 million is reflected in a promissory note Iridium Satellite issued to Motorola, which bears interest at the rate of 10% per annum and matures on December 31, 2011. The promissory note to Motorola is secured by a security interest in Iridium Satellite’s accounts receivable and Iridium Satellite’s principal

 

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operating account, and is guaranteed by Iridium Holdings and by us. As of December 31, 2010, we and Motorola agreed that the $0.8 million we had on deposit with Motorola pursuant to the provisions of the amended and restated transition services, products and asset agreement would be applied to the principal balance of the promissory note. Additionally, pursuant to the settlement agreement with Motorola, we are required to maintain a minimum cash balance beginning in September 2011.

In conjunction with the execution of the settlement agreement, Iridium Satellite and Motorola also terminated the Senior Subordinated Term Loan Agreement dated December 11, 2000 by and among them.

Material Trends and Uncertainties

Iridium’s industry and customer base has historically grown as a result of:

 

   

demand for remote and reliable mobile communications services;

 

   

increased demand for communications services by the Department of Defense, or DoD, disaster and relief agencies and emergency first responders;

 

   

a broad and expanding wholesale distribution network with access to diverse and geographically dispersed niche markets;

 

   

a growing number of new products and services and related applications;

 

   

improved data transmission speeds for mobile satellite service offerings;

 

   

regulatory mandates requiring the use of mobile satellite services, particularly among maritime end-users;

 

   

a general reduction in prices of mobile satellite services equipment; and

 

   

geographic market expansion through the receipt of licenses in additional countries.

Nonetheless, as we continue the Iridium business, we face a number of challenges and uncertainties, including:

 

   

our ability to develop Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure, and develop products and services for Iridium NEXT, including our ability to continue to access the Facility to meet our future capital requirements for the construction of the Iridium NEXT satellites;

 

   

our ability to maintain the health, capacity, control and level of service of our existing satellite network until and during the transition to Iridium NEXT;

 

   

changes in general economic, business and industry conditions;

 

   

our reliance on a single primary gateway and a primary satellite network operations center;

 

   

competition from other mobile satellite service providers and, to a lesser extent, from the expansion of terrestrial based cellular phone systems and related pricing pressures;

 

   

our ability to maintain our relationship with U.S. government customers, particularly the DoD;

 

   

rapid and significant technological changes in the telecommunications industry;

 

   

reliance on our wholesale distribution network to market and sell our products, services and applications effectively;

 

   

reliance on single source suppliers for some of the components required in the manufacture of our end-user subscriber equipment and our ability to purchase parts that are periodically subject to shortages resulting from surges in demand;

 

   

reliance on a few significant customers for a substantial portion of our revenues, where the loss or decline in business with any of these customers may negatively impact our revenue; and

 

   

our ability to obtain sufficient internally generated cash flows to fund a portion of the costs associated with Iridium NEXT and support ongoing business.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations and those of Iridium, as our predecessor, is based upon our consolidated financial statements and those of Iridium, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires the use of estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates including those related to revenue recognition, useful lives of property and equipment, long-lived assets, goodwill and other intangible assets, inventory, income taxes, stock-based compensation and other estimates. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

 

 

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The accounting policies we believe to be most critical to understanding our financial results and condition and those of Iridium and that require complex and subjective management judgments are discussed below. Our accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 in Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” Please see the notes to our consolidated financial statements and those of Iridium for a full discussion of these significant accounting policies.

Revenue Recognition

For revenue arrangements with multiple elements that include guaranteed minimum orders and where we determine, based on judgment, that the elements qualify as separate units of accounting, we allocate the guaranteed minimum arrangement price among the various contract elements based on each element’s relative fair value. We determine fair value for each element using an estimate of vendor specific objective evidence by assessing sales prices of the elements when they are sold to customers on a stand-alone basis. We recognize revenue for each element based on the specific characteristics of that element. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to changes to earned and unearned revenue that could be material.

We recognize revenue for the sale of prepaid airtime if the likelihood of the prepaid airtime being redeemed by the customer is remote based on historical redemption patterns. If future results are not consistent with these historical patterns, and therefore actual usage results are not consistent with our estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to changes to earned and unearned revenue that could be material.

We use either the percentage of completion method of accounting or a similar proportional performance method to recognize revenue on certain fixed-price engineering services arrangements. Under both methods, we recognize revenue based on our estimates of completion with respect to our performance under the arrangement. We recognize revenue on cost-plus-fee arrangements to the extent of actual costs incurred plus an estimate of the applicable fees earned, where such estimated fees is determined using a proportional performance method calculation. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to changes to earned and unearned revenue that could be material.

Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation

We account for stock-based compensation based on the grant date estimated fair value as calculated by the Black-Scholes option pricing model. We recognize stock-based compensation on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. The Black-Scholes option pricing model requires various judgmental assumptions, including expected volatility and expected term. If any of the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model changes significantly, stock-based compensation expense may differ materially in the future from that recorded in the current period. In addition, we are required to estimate the expected forfeiture rate and only recognize expense for those awards expected to vest. We estimate the forfeiture rate based on historical experience. To the extent our actual forfeiture rate is different from our estimate, stock-based compensation expense is adjusted accordingly.

Warranty Expenses

We estimate a provision for product returns under our standard warranty policies when it is probable that a loss has been incurred. A warranty liability is maintained based on historical experience of warranty costs and expected occurrences of warranty claims on equipment. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to changes to cost of subscriber equipment sales that could be material.

 

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Income Taxes

We account for income taxes using the asset and liability approach. This approach requires that we recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities based on differences between the financial statement bases and tax bases of our assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is often established to reduce deferred tax assets to the amounts we expect to realize in the future. We also recognize tax assets related to uncertain tax positions only when we estimate that it is “more likely than not” that the position will be sustainable based on its technical merits. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions, this may result in material changes to our income tax provision (benefit).

Recoverability of Long-Lived Assets

We assess the impairment of long-lived assets when indicators of impairment are present. We assess the possibility of impairment by comparing the carrying amounts of the assets to the estimated future cash flows expected to be generated by those assets. If we determine that an asset is impaired, we estimate the impairment loss by determining the excess of the assets’ carrying amount over its estimated fair value. Estimated fair value is based on market prices, when available, or various other valuation techniques. These techniques often include estimates and assumptions with respect to future cash flows and incremental borrowing rates. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions, we may be exposed to impairment losses that could be material to the results of operations.

Property and equipment and intangible assets with finite lives are depreciated or amortized over their estimated useful lives of the assets. We apply judgment in determining the useful lives based on the various factors such as engineering data, our long-term strategy for using the assets, contractual terms related to the assets, laws or regulations that could impact the useful life of the assets and other economic factors. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions, we may be exposed to changes to depreciation and amortization expense that could be material to the results of operations.

Recoverability of Goodwill and Intangible Assets with Indefinite Lives

Goodwill

We assess the impairment of goodwill on an annual basis or when indications of impairment are present. We assess the possibility of impairment by comparing the carrying amount of the goodwill to the estimated fair value of the reporting unit to which the goodwill is assigned. We make assumptions and apply judgment in estimating the fair value of the reporting unit generally using a combination of the quoted market price of our common stock and a discounted cash flow analysis as an estimate of that value.

If we determine that goodwill is impaired, we estimate the impairment loss by determining the excess of the goodwill’s carrying amount over its estimated fair value. The estimated fair value of the goodwill is determined by recalculating a goodwill amount by reassessing the fair values of the assets and liabilities acquired in the original business combination and recalculating any goodwill amount. Estimating the fair values of the assets and liabilities acquired requires us to make assumptions and apply judgment based on quoted market prices and various other valuation techniques, including the discounted cash flows method and other market multiple analyses. The various valuation techniques require significant assumptions about future cash flows, revenue growth, capital expenditures, working capital fluctuations, asset life, and incremental borrowing rates. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions, we may be exposed to impairment losses that could be material to the results of operations.

Intangible Assets Not Subject to Amortization

A portion of our intangible assets are our spectrum, licenses, and trade names which are indefinite-lived intangible assets. We reevaluate the indefinite life determination for these assets each reporting period to determine whether events and circumstances continue to support an indefinite life.

We assess the impairment of indefinite lived assets on an annual basis or when indications of impairment are present. We assess the possibility of impairment by comparing the carrying amount of the asset to its estimated fair value. If the estimated fair value of the indefinite-lived asset is less than the carrying amount, an impairment loss is recognized. We make assumptions and apply judgment in estimating the fair value based on quoted market prices and various other valuation techniques, including replacement costs, discounted cash flows methods and other market multiple analyses. The various valuation techniques require significant assumptions about future cash flows, replacement cost, revenue growth, capital expenditures, working capital fluctuations, asset life, and incremental borrowing rates. If actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions, we may be exposed to impairment losses that could be material to the results of operations.

 

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Internally Developed Software

We capitalize the costs of acquiring, developing and testing software to meet our internal needs. Capitalization of costs associated with software obtained or developed for internal use commences when both the preliminary project stage is completed and management has authorized funding for the project, based on a determination that it is probable that the project will be completed and used to perform the function intended. Capitalized costs include (i) external direct cost of materials and services consumed in developing or obtaining internal-use software, and (ii) payroll and payroll-related costs for employees who are directly associated with, and devote time to, the internal-use software project. Capitalization of such costs ceases no later than the point at which the project is substantially complete and ready for its intended use. Internal use software costs are amortized once the software is placed in service using the straight-line method over periods ranging from three to seven years. Judgments and estimates are required in the calculation of capitalized development costs. We evaluate and estimate when a preliminary project stage is completed and at the point when the project is substantially complete and ready for use, which are based on engineering data.

Deferred Financing Costs

Direct and incremental costs incurred in connection with securing debt financing are deferred on our balance sheet and then are amortized as additional interest expense using an effective interest method over the term of the related debt. The effective interest rate calculation requires us to make assumptions and estimates in determining estimated periodic interest expense, including assumptions and estimates with respect to future borrowing dates and amounts, repayment dates and amounts, and periodic LIBOR. If actual borrowing amounts and dates, repayment amounts and dates, and LIBOR rates are not consistent with our estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to changes that could be material to our property and equipment, net balance (since we are capitalizing interest expense as part of the cost of Iridium NEXT), deferred financing costs balance, depreciation expense, interest expense, income from operations and net income.

Comparison of Our Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2010 and 2009

Total revenue increased to $348.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010, from $76.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. This increase reflected a full 12 months of operations in 2010 compared to the three months of operations after the Acquisition in 2009. Prior to the Acquisition, we had no revenues or operations. See “Comparison of Combined Results of Operations” for additional analysis.

Total operating expenses increased to $310.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010, from $89.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. This increase was related to the 12 months of operations in 2010 compared to the three months of operations after the Acquisition in 2009.

Other expense decreased to $1.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $32.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2009, which was primarily due to $34.1 million of expense in 2009 related to the change in fair value of warrants on the exchange agreements outstanding at the time. For the year ended December 31, 2010, total other expense was primarily related to the commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the Facility.

We had an income tax provision of approximately $12.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2010, compared to an income tax benefit of approximately $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2009. The effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2010 was approximately 36.28% compared to 3.59% in the year ended December 31, 2009. The December 2009 rate of 3.59% was primarily related to nonrecurring items including the non-deductible change in fair value of warrants and the non-deductible transaction costs. Our annual effective tax rate in 2010 differs from the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate of 35% primarily due to state income taxes and branch profit taxes.

Comparison of Our Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2009 and 2008

For the periods prior to the Acquisition, we did not engage in any significant operations or generate any revenues from operations. For the year ended December 31, 2009, we had $76.0 million of revenue, which is entirely attributable to the three months of operations after the Acquisition. Prior to the Acquisition, we had no revenues or operations. See “Comparison of Combined Results of Operations” for additional analysis.

Total operating expenses increased to $89.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $2.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This increase was primarily related to the three months of operations after the Acquisition in 2009 and an increase in transaction costs primarily due to legal and advisory fees associated with the Acquisition.

Other expense was $32.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2009 compared to $5.6 million of other income in the year ended December 31, 2008. This change was primarily due to $34.1 million of expense in 2009 related to the change in fair value of warrants on the exchange agreements outstanding at the time, along with a decrease in other income as a result of lower prevailing interest rates available on our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment balances.

 

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We had an income tax benefit of $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 compared to an income tax provision of $1.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. In 2009, we had current tax expenses primarily driven by the non-deductibility of the change in fair value of warrants and non-deductible transaction costs offset by a favorable change in the deferred tax balances due to the change in basis as a result of the Acquisition. The effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2009 was 3.59% compared to 45.02% in 2008 due to the non-deductibility of certain transaction costs and the change in fair value for the derivative instruments associated with the warrant exchange agreements.

Comparison of Combined Results of Operations

For comparison purposes, we have included the following discussion of our actual operating results for the year ended December 31, 2010, to those of Iridium on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 and those of Iridium on an actual basis for the year ended December 31, 2008. This presentation is intended to facilitate the evaluation and understanding of the financial performance of our business on a year-to-year basis. Management believes this presentation is useful in providing the users of our financial information with an understanding of our results of operations because there were no material changes to the operations of Iridium as a result of the Acquisition and we had no material operating activities from the date of formation of GHL Acquisition Corp. until the Acquisition. The combined presentation is a simple mathematical addition of the pre-Acquisition results of operations of Iridium for the period from January 1, 2009 to September, 29 2009 and our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2009. There are no other adjustments made in the combined presentation.

Comparison of Our Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2010 and Combined Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2009

 

     2010     2009        
     Iridium
Communications  Inc.
Year Ended
December  31,
2010
As Reported
    Iridium
Communications  Inc.
Year Ended
December  31,
2009
As Reported
    Iridium
Period from
January 1,
2009 to
September 29,
2009
As Reported
    Combined
Year  Ended

December 31,
2009
    % Change  
     (In thousands)        

Revenue:

          

Service

   $ 236,351      $ 53,014      $ 160,221      $ 213,235        10.8

Subscriber equipment

     90,184        17,293        66,206        83,499        8.0

Engineering and support service

     21,638        5,682        16,524        22,206        (2.6 )% 
                                  

Total revenue

     348,173        75,989        242,951        318,940        9.2

Operating expenses:

          

Cost of subscriber equipment sales

     61,661        18,657        33,265        51,922        18.8

Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

     72,579        18,965        58,978        77,943        (6.9 )% 

Research and development

     19,178        5,974        17,432        23,406        (18.1 )% 

Depreciation and amortization

     90,667        22,376        10,850        33,226        172.9

Selling, general and administrative

     66,728        17,029        44,505        61,534        8.4

Transaction costs

     —          6,163        12,478        18,641        NM   
                                  

Total operating expenses

     310,813        89,164        177,508        266,672        16.6
                                  

Operating profit (loss)

     37,360        (13,175     65,443        52,268        (28.5 )% 

Other (expense) income:

          

Change in fair value of warrants

     —          (34,117     —          (34,117     NM   

Interest income (expense), net of capitalized interest

     637        1,226        (12,542     (11,316     (105.6 )% 

Other (expense) income, net

     (2,385     26        383        409        (683.1 )% 
                                  

Total other (expense) income

     (1,748     (32,865     (12,159     (45,024     (96.1 )% 
                                  

Earnings (loss) before provision (benefit) for taxes

     35,612        (46,040     53,284        7,244        391.6

Income tax provision (benefit)

     12,921        (1,654     —          (1,654     NM   
                                  

Net income (loss)

   $ 22,691      $ (44,386   $ 53,284      $ 8,898        155.0
                                  

 

NM = Not Meaningful

 

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Revenue

Total revenue increased by 9.2% to $348.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $318.9 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, due principally to growth in billable subscribers, which drove growth in both commercial and government services revenue as well as increased sales of subscriber equipment, partially offset by a decrease in government engineering and support service revenue. Billable subscribers at December 31, 2010 increased by approximately 24.9% from December 31, 2009 to approximately 427,000 primarily due to growth in our distribution network and new product offerings.

Service Revenue

 

     Service Revenue  
     Iridium Communications  Inc.
Year Ended
December 31, 2010
     Combined Year Ended
December 31, 2009
     Year over Year Change  
     (Revenue in millions and subscribers in thousands)  
     Revenue      Billable
Subscribers(1)
     ARPU(2)      Revenue      Billable
Subscribers(1)
     ARPU(2)      Revenue      Billable
Subscribers
     ARPU  

Commercial voice

   $ 155.6         272.1       $ 51       $ 143.0         238.4       $ 52       $ 12.6         33.7       $ (1

Commercial M2M data

     21.8         111.3         20         16.5         70.3         21         5.3         41.0         (1
                                                              

Total

     177.4         383.4            159.5         308.7            17.9         74.7      

Government voice

     57.5         36.2         146         53.0         29.4         150         4.5         6.8         (4

Government M2M data

     1.5         7.3         21         0.7         4.1         21         0.8         3.2         —     
                                                              

Total

     59.0         43.5            53.7         33.5            5.3         10.0      
                                                              

Total

   $ 236.4         426.9          $ 213.2         342.2          $ 23.2         84.7      
                                                              

 

(1) Billable subscriber numbers shown are at the end of the respective period.
(2) ARPU is calculated by dividing revenue in the respective period by the average of the number of billable subscribers at the beginning of the period and the number of billable subscribers at the end of the period and then dividing the result by the number of months in the period.

Service revenue increased by 10.8% to $236.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $213.2 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, primarily due to growth in billable subscribers in commercial and government services.

Commercial voice revenue was up principally due to billable subscriber growth, including growth related to Iridium OpenPort. Commercial M2M data revenue growth was driven principally by an increase in the billable subscriber base. Commercial voice average monthly revenue per unit, or ARPU, decreased by $1 to $51 for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared to the combined year ended December 31, 2009. Commercial M2M data ARPU decreased by $1 to $20 for the year ended December 31, 2010 due to the addition of subscribers on new pricing plans at lower ARPU. We expect to see a decrease in commercial M2M data ARPU in 2011 as we expect to continue to experience further growth in our subscriber base with many subscribers utilizing lower APRU plans.

Government voice revenue was up principally due to billable subscriber growth, including growth related to Netted Iridium, a service introduced in late 2009 that provides beyond-line-of-sight, push-to-talk capability for user-defined groups. The increase in government M2M data revenue was driven primarily by billable subscriber growth. Government voice ARPU decreased by $4 to $146 for the year ended December 31, 2010 compared to the combined year ended December 31, 2009 due to a higher proportion of billable subscribers on the lower priced Netted Iridium plan. Government M2M data ARPU was

 

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flat year over year. We expect government voice ARPU to decrease in 2011 as usage of Netted Iridium continues to grow as a percentage of overall government voice subscribers. Also, future growth in government voice and M2M data billable subscribers and revenue may be negatively affected by reductions in U.S. defense spending and deployed troop levels, and a corresponding decrease in subscribers under our agreements with the U.S. government, which account for a majority of our government services revenue and are subject to annual renewals.

Subscriber Equipment Revenue

Subscriber equipment revenue increased by 8.0% to $90.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $83.5 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009. The increase in subscriber equipment revenue was primarily due to increased volume in M2M data device and handset sales, which was partially offset by decreases in most equipment unit prices introduced earlier in 2010 to incent future growth in service revenue and in anticipation of competitive pressure. We intend to continue our strategy of pricing equipment to incent subscriber growth, aimed at increasing recurring service revenues that produce higher gross margins. Subscriber equipment sales to the U.S. government, including sales through non-government distributors, may be negatively affected by reductions in U.S. defense spending and deployed troop levels. We expect a decrease in subscriber equipment revenue in 2011 given the reduced pricing which we implemented to incent subscriber growth and growth in recurring service revenues.

Engineering and Support Service Revenue

 

     Engineering and Support Service Revenue  
     Iridium Communications Inc.
Year Ended
December 31, 2010
     Combined Year Ended
December 31, 2009
     Year over Year Change  
     (Revenue in millions)  

Government

   $ 19.7       $ 21.5       $ (1.8

Commercial

     1.9         0.7         1.2   
                          

Total

   $ 21.6       $ 22.2       $ (0.6
                          

Engineering and support service revenue decreased by 2.6% to $21.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $22.2 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, which was primarily due to a decrease in government engineering and support service contracts which ended early in 2010, partially offset by an increase in commercial engineering and support service revenue related to new development work.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses increased by 16.6% to $310.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $266.6 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009. This increase was due primarily to higher depreciation and amortization expense related to the higher asset basis we had following the Acquisition and to increased cost of subscriber equipment sales primarily related to the higher inventory basis we had following the Acquisition. These increases were offset by transaction costs related to the Acquisition for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, which were $0 in 2010.

Cost of Subscriber Equipment Sales

Cost of subscriber equipment sales includes the direct costs of equipment sold, which consist of manufacturing costs, allocation of overhead, warranty costs and royalties paid for the subscriber equipment intellectual property.

Cost of subscriber equipment sales increased by 18.8% to $61.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $51.9 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, primarily as a result of increased sales volume in M2M data devices and handsets, as well as an increase related to the inventory value we had following the Acquisition, which had a higher inventory basis. We do not expect the cost of subscriber equipment sales to continue at this level as our higher valued inventory from the Acquisition has been fully utilized. Historically, cost of subscriber equipment sales has changed in line with changes in subscriber equipment revenue with the exception of the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010 due to the impact of higher inventory value we had following the Acquisition.

Cost of Services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) includes the cost of network engineering and operations staff including contractors, software maintenance, product support services and cost of services for government and commercial engineering and support service revenue.

 

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Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) decreased by 6.9% to $72.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $77.9 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, primarily due to the result of a favorable contract renegotiation with The Boeing Company, or Boeing, in July 2010 that resulted in lower operations and maintenance expenses. In 2010, we also experienced lower government engineering and support service expenses directly related to the decrease in government engineering and support service revenue, partially offset by increased satellite operations and engineering costs and increased expense related to new commercial engineering and support service work.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses decreased by 18.1% to $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $23.4 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, primarily as a result of a decrease in expenses related to the development of a new M2M data device, which was completed in May 2010, and decreased expenses related to Iridium NEXT projects as they transitioned out of the research and development stage, partially offset by an increase in equipment upgrade projects.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization expenses increased by 172.9% to $90.6 million for year ended December 31, 2010 from $33.2 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, primarily as a result of $58.4 million in additional depreciation and amortization attributable to increased asset basis we had following the Acquisition. We expect depreciation and amortization expense in 2011 to be in line with 2010.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses include sales and marketing costs as well as legal, finance, information technology, facilities, billing and customer care expenses.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by 8.4% to $66.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 from $61.5 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, primarily due to increases in employee related costs (management incentives, commissions and severance) and professional fees (consulting, accounting, legal and regulatory). We also experienced increases in selling, general and administrative expenses related to the costs of being a public company, our geographic expansion, our new corporate headquarters, and sales and marketing costs related to trade shows. These increases were partially offset by a reduction in bad debt expense.

Transaction Costs

Transaction costs related to the Acquisition were $18.7 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009. Transaction costs primarily include legal, accounting and consulting fees. There were no such costs for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Other (Expense) Income

Change in Fair Value of Warrants

Change in fair value of warrants was $34.1 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009. We determined that the exchange agreements entered into with the holders of warrants to purchase an aggregate of 26.8 million shares of our common stock were derivative instruments, and the change in fair value of these warrants between the offer date and exchange date was recorded in 2009.

Interest Income (Expense), Net of Capitalized Interest

Interest income (expense), net of capitalized interest was $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2010 and ($11.3) million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009, primarily due to borrowing under Iridium’s credit facilities that were outstanding in 2009 and subsequently paid off immediately following the Acquisition. We expect our interest costs going forward to increase, however, we expect most of these costs will be capitalized as a part of the Iridium NEXT project during its construction period.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net was $(2.4) million for the year ended December 31, 2010 and $0.4 million for the combined year ended December 31, 2009. This increase in expense was primarily due to the commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the Facility recorded in 2010. We expect this increase in expense to continue in 2011 as the Facility will be outstanding for the full year.

 

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Table of Contents

Income Tax Provision (Benefit)

For the year ended December 31, 2010, our income tax provision was $12.9 million. Our annual effective tax rate was approximately 36.28%. The 2010 income tax rate was impacted by state income taxes and branch profit taxes. Additionally, our 2010 reserve for uncertain tax positions includes unrecognized tax benefits related to certain U.S. and foreign transfer pricing adjustments and taxable presence in certain foreign jurisdictions. The 2009 tax rate of 3.59% was primarily driven by the non-deductibility of the change in the fair value of warrants and non-deductible transaction costs offset by a favorable change in the deferred tax balances due to the change in basis as a result of the Acquisition.

Comparison of Combined Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2009 and Iridium’s Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2008

 

     2009     2008        
     Iridium
Communications Inc.
Year Ended
December 31,
2009
As Reported
    Iridium
Period from
January 1,
2009 to
September 29,
2009
As Reported
    Combined
Year Ended
December 31,
2009
    Iridium
Year Ended
December 31,
2008
As Reported
    % Change  
     (In thousands)  

Revenue:

          

Service

   $ 53,014      $ 160,221      $ 213,235      $ 184,865        15.3

Subscriber equipment

     17,293        66,206        83,499        119,938        (30.4 )% 

Engineering and support service

     5,682        16,524        22,206        16,141        37.6
                                  

Total revenue

     75,989        242,951        318,940        320,944        (0.6 )% 

Operating expenses:

          

Cost of subscriber equipment sales

     18,657        33,265        51,922        67,570        (23.2 )% 

Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

     18,965        58,978        77,943        69,882        11.5

Research and development

     5,974        17,432        23,406        32,774        (28.6 )% 

Depreciation and amortization

     22,376        10,850        33,226        12,535        165.1

Selling, general and administrative

     17,029        44,505        61,534        55,105        11.7

Transaction costs

     6,163        12,478        18,641        7,959        134.2
                                  

Total operating expenses

     89,164        177,508        266,672        245,825        8.5
                                  

Operating (loss) profit

     (13,175     65,443        52,268        75,119        (30.4 )% 

Other (expense) income:

          

Change in fair value of warrants

     (34,117     —          (34,117     —          NM   

Interest income (expense), net of capitalized interest

     1,226        (12,542     (11,316     (19,749     (42.7 )% 

Other income (expense), net

     26        383        409        (1,491     (127.4 )% 
                                  

Total other (expense) income

     (32,865     (12,159     (45,024     (21,240     112.0
                                  

(Loss) earnings before (benefit) provision for taxes

     (46,040     53,284        7,244        53,879        (86.6 )% 

Income tax (benefit) provision

     (1,654     —          (1,654     —          NM   
                                  

Net (loss) income

   $ (44,386   $ 53,284      $ 8,898      $ 53,879        (83.5 )% 
                                  

 

NM = Not Meaningful

 

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Table of Contents

Revenue

Total revenue decreased by less than 1.0% to $318.9 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $320.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, due principally to a significant decrease in sales of subscriber equipment, offset by increased sales of commercial and government services and engineering and support service. Total billable subscribers increased by approximately 11.0% during the year ended December 31, 2009 to approximately 342,000. Subscriber growth slowed in the year ended December 31, 2009 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2008, primarily due to the economic environment.

Service Revenue

 

     Service Revenue  
     Combined Year Ended
December 31, 2009
     Iridium Year Ended
December 31, 2008
     Year over Year Change  
     (Revenue in millions and subscribers in thousands)  
     Revenue      Billable
Subscribers(1)
     ARPU(2)      Revenue      Billable
Subscribers(1)
     ARPU(2)      Revenue      Billable
Subscribers
     ARPU  

Commercial voice

   $ 143.0         238.4       $ 52       $ 121.1         217.6       $     52       $ 21.9         20.8       $ —     

Commercial M2M data

     16.5         70.3         21         11.3         59.0         21         5.2         11.3         —     
                                                              

Total

     159.5         308.7            132.4         276.6            27.1         32.1      

Government voice

     53.0         29.4         150         52.2         29.4         145         0.8         —           5   

Government M2M data

     0.7         4.1         21         0.3         1.9         16         0.4         2.2         5   
                                                              

Total

     53.7         33.5            52.5         31.3            1.2         2.2      
                                                              

Total

   $     213.2         342.2          $     184.9         307.9          $     28.3         34.3      
                                                              

 

(1) Billable subscriber numbers shown are at the end of the respective period.
(2) ARPU is calculated by dividing revenue in the respective period by the average of the number of billable subscribers at the beginning of the period and the number of billable subscribers at the end of the period and then dividing the result by the number of months in the period.

Service revenue increased by 15.3% to $213.2 million on a combined basis from $184.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Commercial voice revenue was up principally due to billable subscriber growth and a $5 increase per user in monthly access fees in January 2009. Commercial M2M data revenue growth was driven principally by evolving applications developed by several of our distributors, and an increase in the billable subscriber base slightly offset by a decline in usage related to the expiration of a special customer promotion in 2008.

Government voice revenue was up primarily due to the full year impact of price increases implemented in April 2008. The increase in M2M data revenue was driven primarily by billable subscriber growth. The number of voice billable subscribers remained constant from 2008 to 2009 because the increase in handset subscribers was offset by a decrease in paging subscribers, and government voice ARPU increased by $5 to $150 in 2009 from $145 in 2008 primarily due to an increase in the monthly access fee. Government M2M data ARPU increased by $5 to $21 in 2009 from $16 in 2008 primarily due to a mix change in our tiered pricing data plans.

Subscriber Equipment Revenue

Subscriber equipment sales decreased by 30.4% to $83.5 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $119.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. The decrease in subscriber equipment sales was primarily due to lower volumes driven largely by reduced demand for satellite equipment caused by the economic downturn and customer defections from a competitor in 2008. In addition, we have decreased unit prices to incent future growth in services revenue and also in response to competitive pressures.

 

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Engineering and Support Service Revenue

 

     Engineering and Support Service Revenue  
     Combined  Year
Ended

December 31, 2009
     Iridium Year
Ended
December 31, 2008
     Year over Year
Change
 
     (Revenue in millions)  

Government

   $ 21.5       $ 15.3       $ 6.2   

Commercial

     0.7         0.8         (0.1
                          

Total

   $ 22.2       $ 16.1       $ 6.1   
                          

Engineering and support service revenue increased by 37.6% to $22.2 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $16.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This increase was primarily a result of an overall increase in work performed under government engineering and support service contracts in 2009.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses increased by 8.5% to $266.6 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $245.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This increase was due primarily to increased depreciation and amortization, increased cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) and increased transaction costs incurred to complete the Acquisition, offset by lower cost of subscriber equipment due to a decrease in sales and lower research and development expenses.

Cost of Subscriber Equipment Sales

Cost of subscriber equipment sales decreased by 23.2% to $51.9 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $67.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 due to a decrease in sales of subscriber equipment and lower manufacturing costs, partially offset by an $8.9 million increase related to higher inventory values due to the Acquisition.

Cost of Services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) increased by 11.5% to $77.9 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $69.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, primarily due to increased government engineering and support service costs, along with increased operations and maintenance expenses from annual price escalations in the long-term operations and maintenance agreement, or the O&M Agreement, between Iridium Constellation and Boeing.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses decreased by 28.6% to $23.4 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $32.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, primarily as a result of a significant decrease in expenses related to our L-Band Transceiver project and Iridium NEXT, and reduced spending on Iridium OpenPort, the development of which was completed in 2008. These decreases were partially offset by increases in expenses related to government handset upgrade projects and future gateway upgrade projects.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization expenses increased by 165.1% to $33.2 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $12.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, primarily due to a $18.7 million of additional depreciation and amortization attributable to increased asset basis we had following the Acquisition, and additional depreciation associated with new assets placed in service, primarily equipment and software for our satellite network operations center, gateway and corporate systems.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by 11.7% to $61.5 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $55.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2008 primarily due to accelerated vesting of employee share-based awards as a result of the Acquisition, an increase in bad debt expense and higher licensing, regulatory and non-Acquisition legal fees, partially offset by a decrease in travel expenses and consulting fees.

 

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Transaction Costs

Transaction costs related to the Acquisition increased by 134.2% to $18.7 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $8.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This increase was due to increased legal, accounting, and advisory fees for Iridium prior to the Acquisition.

Other (Expense) Income

Change in Fair Value of Warrants

Change in fair value of warrants was $34.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2009 on a combined basis. We determined that the exchange agreements entered into with the holders of warrants to purchase an aggregate of 26.8 million shares of our common stock were derivative instruments, and the change in fair value of these warrants between the offer date and exchange date was recorded in 2009. There was no similar expense for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Interest Income (Expense), Net of Capitalized Interest

Interest expense decreased by 42.7% to $11.3 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $19.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This decrease resulted from lower prevailing interest rates on the Iridium credit facilities and a lower outstanding balance on Iridium’s debt as mandatory prepayments on the Iridium credit facilities were made in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009 pursuant to the amendment of the Iridium credit facilities, which were paid off on September 30, 2009.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Interest income and other income (expense), net increased by $1.9 million to $0.4 million on a combined basis for the year ended December 31, 2009 from $(1.5) million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This increase was primarily due to a reduction in the impact of foreign currency exchange transaction costs.

Income Tax Benefit

Prior to the completion of the Acquisition, Iridium was a limited liability company. As a limited liability company, Iridium was treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As such, Iridium was generally not subject to federal or state income tax directly. Rather, each member was subject to income taxation based on the member’s portion of Iridium’s income or loss, as defined in Iridium’s amended and restated limited liability company agreement, or the LLC Agreement. However, Iridium was subject to income taxes in certain non-U.S. jurisdictions in which its foreign affiliates operate.

Post Acquisition, Iridium became a subsidiary of Iridium Communications Inc. where Iridium’s flow-through income is taxed. For the year ended December 31, 2009, we had an income tax benefit of $1.7 million. In 2009, we had current tax expenses primarily driven by the non-deductibility of the change in the fair value of warrants and non-deductible transaction costs offset by a favorable change in the deferred tax balances due to the change in basis as a result of the Acquisition.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2010, our total cash and cash equivalents were $119.9 million. Our principal sources of liquidity are existing cash, internally generated cash flows and the new Facility we entered into in October 2010. Our principal liquidity requirements are to meet capital expenditure needs, including the design, manufacture and deployment of Iridium NEXT, working capital and research and development expenses.

We expect to fund $1.8 billion of the costs of Iridium NEXT with the Facility, with the remainder to be funded from internally generated cash flows, including potential revenues from hosted payloads on our Iridium NEXT satellites. We also have outstanding stock purchase warrants that could serve as a source of additional liquidity upon exercise. As of March 4, 2010, the warrants that were “in the money,” meaning they had an exercise price less than the closing price of our common stock on that date, would provide us with approximately $95.6 million if exercised in full.

The Facility contains borrowing restrictions, including financial performance covenants, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to borrow funds under the Facility. There can also be no assurance that our internally generated cash flows will meet our current expectations, that our in-the-money warrants will remain in the money, or that they will be exercised. If we do not have access to those expected sources of liquidity, or if the cost of implementing Iridium NEXT or the other elements of our business plan is higher than anticipated, we will require even more external funding than planned. Our ability to obtain additional funding may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including the global economic downturn and related tightening of the credit markets, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain such funding on reasonable terms, or at all. If we are not able to secure such funding in a timely manner, our ability to maintain our network, design, build and launch Iridium NEXT and related ground infrastructure, products and services, and pursue additional growth opportunities will be impaired, and we would likely need to delay some elements of our Iridium NEXT development. Our liquidity and our ability to fund our liquidity requirements are also dependent on our future financial performance, which is subject to general economic, financial, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control.

 

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As discussed earlier, on October 25, 2010, we closed on the Facility, which resulted in the FSD becoming effective and the ATP being terminated. Additionally, the SpaceX Agreement became effective, and we paid arrangement fees related to the Facility. We have also entered into a settlement agreement and certain other agreements with Motorola. We believe that our liquidity sources will provide sufficient funds for us to meet our liquidity requirements for the next 12 months.

Cash and Indebtedness

At December 31, 2010, our total cash and cash equivalents were $119.9 million, and we had an aggregate of $157.4 million of external indebtedness related to borrowings under the Facility and amounts outstanding related to the promissory note to Motorola.

Cash Flows

The following section highlights our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008, and Iridium’s cash flows for the period from January 1, 2009 to September 29, 2009, or the 2009 Period, and the year ended December 31, 2008:

Our Cash Flows

The following table shows our consolidated cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 (in millions):

 

Statements of Cash Flows

   Year ended
December 31,
2010
    Year ended
December 31,
2009
    Year ended
December 31,
2008
 

Cash flows provided by operating activities

   $ 151.4      $ 23.2      $ 2.1   

Cash flows (used in) provided by investing activities

     (242.1     354.5        (401.8

Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities

     63.4        (230.6     399.7   
                        

Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents

   $ (27.3   $ 147.1      $ —     
                        

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Net cash provided by our operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $151.4 million, generated from net income of $130.1 million, adjusted for non-cash items including $107.4 million for depreciation and amortization, deferred taxes and stock-based compensation as a result of a full year of operations as well as revenue growth and improved profitability. Working capital increased $21.3 million due to a release of restricted cash, a decrease in inventory, an increase in deferred revenue resulting from higher sales of prepaid services, and an increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities due to the timing of payments to vendors, partially offset by an increase in accounts receivable related to timing of collections and an increase in income tax receivable.

Net cash provided by our operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2009 was $23.2 million resulting from net income of $10.5 million, adjusted for $54.9 million of non-cash items and $12.7 million generated from our working capital, primarily due to a decrease in accounts receivable related to timing of collections, an increase in our allowance for doubtful accounts for certain customers, and a decrease in inventory related to inventory management.

Net cash provided by our operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $2.1 million resulting from net income of $0.5 million, adjusted for $1.2 million of non-cash items, and $1.6 million generated from our working capital.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $242.1 million, which included $237.5 million of capital expenditures related to Iridium NEXT, payments related to the purchase of equipment and software for our satellite and network operations, gateway and corporate systems, payments to some of the former members of Iridium Holdings for tax benefits we received as a result of the Acquisition and payments for our new corporate headquarters.

Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2009 was $354.5 million, resulting from $401.8 million of funds transferred from the trust account into operations and $58.0 million of cash acquired from Iridium, offset in part by $98.0 million paid to the sellers in connection with the Acquisition and $7.4 million of capital expenditures related to equipment and software for our satellite and network operations, gateway and corporate systems.

 

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Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $401.8 million, resulting primarily from $400.0 million of funds from the initial public offering transferred to the trust account.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $63.4 million, resulting from cash borrowed under the Facility primarily for payments under the FSD, partially offset by payment of financing fees incurred in conjunction with obtaining the Facility.

Net cash used in financing activities in the year ended December 31, 2009 was $230.6 million, primarily resulting from $164.9 million for the purchase of shares, a $91.7 million payment to holders of common stock who elected to convert their shares into a pro rata portion of the trust account and repayments of all outstanding amounts under Iridium’s credit facilities of $113.6 million, partially offset by $148.8 million in net proceeds from our public offering on September 29, 2009.

Net cash provided by financing activities in the year ended December 31, 2008 was $399.7 million, primarily resulting from the proceeds of our initial public offering on February 1, 2008 of $400.0 million.

Iridium’s Cash Flows

The following table shows Iridium’s consolidated cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities for the 2009 Period, and the year ended December 31, 2008 (in millions):

 

Statements of Cash Flows

   2009
Period
    Year ended
December 31,
2008
 

Cash flows provided by operating activities

   $ 64.2      $ 61.4   

Cash flows used in investing activities

     (7.7     (13.9

Cash flows used in financing activities

     (23.3     (44.8
                

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents

   $ 33.2      $ 2.7   
                

Cash Flows Provided by Operating Activities

Iridium’s net cash provided by operating activities for the 2009 Period increased to $64.2 million from $61.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This increase of $2.8 million was primarily attributable to less cash used by working capital due to the 2009 Period, including activity only for nine months, lower inventory balances as demand slowed for equipment in the 2009 Period and inventory management processes, partially offset by timing of payments to vendors.

Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the 2009 Period decreased to $7.7 million from $13.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. This decrease was attributable primarily to lower capital costs related to equipment and software for Iridium’s satellite and network operations, gateway and corporate systems, which were placed in service in 2008.

Iridium’s capital expenditures consisted primarily of the hardware and software upgrades to maintain its ground infrastructure and a portion of the expenses related to the development of Iridium OpenPort. These also include upgrades to our billing system to enable customer billing of new products and services.

Cash Flows Used in Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities for the 2009 Period decreased to $23.3 million from $44.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2008, primarily due to no cash distributions to its investors made in 2009 compared to $41.4 million in 2008, partially offset by $22.9 million of proceeds from the issuance of a convertible subordinated note to Greenhill & Co. Europe Holdings Limited in 2008.

 

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Contractual Obligations and Commitments

The following table summarizes our outstanding contractual obligations as of December 31, 2010:

 

Contractual Obligations:

   Less than  1
Year
     1-3 Years      3-5 Years      More Than
5 Years
     Total  
     (in millions)  

Payment obligations:

              

Thales

   $ 343.6       $ 762.5       $ 636.1       $ 330.4       $ 2,072.6   

SpaceX

     0.2         35.3         285.6         127.3         448.4   

Boeing (1)

     43.6         81.4         77.0         61.0         263.0   

Debt obligations (2)

     3.5         —           —           135.1         138.6   

Motorola promissory note (including interest)

     25.2         —           —           —           25.2   

Operating lease obligations (3)

     3.3         6.3         4.3         6.1         20.0   

Uncertain tax positions (4)

     —           —           —           —           0.7   

Unconditional purchase obligations (5)

     13.3         —           —           —           13.3   
                                            

Total

   $ 432.7       $ 885.5       $ 1,003.0       $ 659.9       $ 2,981.8   
                                            

 

(1) Boeing obligations consist of an estimated commitment related to our existing satellite systems, where the commitments are based on an expected future completion date of Iridium NEXT that is estimated to occur in June 2017. Therefore, there is no contractual obligation for Boeing that relates to Iridium NEXT included in the table.
(2) Debt obligations include amounts drawn under the Facility as of December 31, 2010, which include $135.1 million outstanding debt obligations, $2.4 million of accrued commitment fee on the undrawn portion of the Facility and $1.1 million of accrued interest through December 31, 2010. The Facility can be used for (i) 85% of the costs under the FSD, (ii) the premium for the COFACE policy and (iii) the payment of a portion of interest during a portion of the construction and launch phase of Iridium NEXT. We did not include future debt obligations or future interest costs in the table because the timing of the borrowings is unknown and there is a variable component of the interest. We also did not include future amounts for the commitment fee, which is 0.80% per year on any undrawn portion of the Facility, as timing of the borrowings is unknown.
(3) Operating lease obligations do not include payments to landlords covering real estate taxes, common area maintenance and other charges, as such fees are not determinable based upon the provisions of our lease agreements.
(4) As of December 31, 2010, we estimated our uncertain tax positions to be $0.7 million, including penalties and interests. However, we are unable to reasonably estimate the period of these possible future payments, therefore, the balance has not been reflected in a specified period.
(5) Unconditional purchase obligations include our agreement with a supplier for the manufacturing of our devices and various commitments with other vendors that are enforceable, legally binding and have specified terms, including fixed or minimum quantities; fixed, minimum or variable price provisions; and a fixed timeline. Unconditional purchase obligations do not include agreements that are cancelable without penalty.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not currently have, nor have we or Iridium had in the last three years, any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Seasonality

Our results of operations have been subject to seasonal usage changes for commercial customers, and our results will be affected by similar seasonality going forward. April through October are typically the peak months for commercial voice services revenue and related subscriber equipment sales. U.S. government revenue and commercial M2M revenue have been less subject to seasonal usage changes.

 

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Related Party Transactions

For a description of related party transactions, see “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence.”

Accounting Developments

In October 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or the FASB, issued Accounting Standards Update 2009-13, “Revenue Recognition (Topic 605) Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements, a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force,” or ASU 2009-13. ASU 2009-13 amends existing accounting guidance for separating consideration in multiple-deliverable arrangements. ASU 2009-13 establishes a selling price hierarchy for determining the selling price of a deliverable. The selling price used for each deliverable will be based on vendor-specific objective evidence if available, third-party evidence if vendor-specific evidence is not available, or the estimated selling price if neither vendor-specific evidence nor third-party evidence is available. ASU 2009-13 eliminates the residual method of allocation and requires that consideration be allocated at the inception of the arrangement to all deliverables using the “relative selling price method.” The relative selling price method allocates any discount in the arrangement proportionately to each deliverable on the basis of each deliverable’s selling price. ASU 2009-13 requires that a vendor determine its best estimate of selling price in a manner that is consistent with that used to determine the price to sell the deliverable on a stand-alone basis. ASU 2009-13 is effective prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into or materially modified in fiscal years beginning on or after June 15, 2010, with earlier adoption permitted. We have not yet determined the impact of the adoption of ASU 2009-13 on our financial position or results of operations.

In April 2010, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2010-17, “Revenue Recognition—Milestone Method (Topic 605) Milestone Method of Revenue Recognition, a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force” or ASU 2010-17. ASU 2010-17 provides guidance on the criteria that should be met for determining whether the milestone method of revenue recognition is appropriate. A vendor can recognize consideration that is contingent upon achievement of a milestone in its entirety as revenue in the period in which the milestone is achieved only if the milestone meets all criteria to be considered substantive. For the milestone to be considered substantive, the considerations earned by achieving the milestone should meet all of the following criteria: (i) be commensurate with either the vendor’s performance to achieve the milestone or the enhancement of the value of the item delivered as a result of a specific outcome resulting from the vendor’s performance to achieve the milestone, (ii) relate solely to past performance, and (iii) be reasonable relative to all deliverables and payment terms in the arrangement. An individual milestone may not be bifurcated and an arrangement may include more than one milestone. Accordingly, an arrangement may contain both substantive and nonsubstantive milestones. ASU 2010-17 is effective prospectively for milestones achieved in fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning on or after June 15, 2010 (our fiscal year ending December 31, 2011), with earlier adoption permitted. We have not yet determined the impact of the adoption of ASU 2010-17 on our financial position or results of operations.

 

Item  7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Interest income earned on our cash and cash equivalents balances is subject to interest rate fluctuations. For the year ended December 31, 2010, a one-half percentage point increase or decrease in interest rates would not have had a material effect on our interest income.

Under the original ATP and FSD with Thales entered into in June 2010, a portion of the aggregate fixed price was denominated in Euros. The parties agreed to convert the Euro portion into dollars at the time we became eligible to make the first draw under the contemplated credit facility, which was the time the FSD became effective. It was also a condition to the closing of the Facility and the effectiveness of the FSD that the Euro-dollar exchange rate remain below a specified target. In the third quarter of 2010, we entered into amendments with Thales to the ATP and the FSD pursuant to which we paid $37.6 million to Thales to mitigate most of the risk of potential currency fluctuations on the Euro-denominated portion of the fixed price. At the time we became eligible to draw under the Facility on October 25, 2010 and the FSD became effective, the Euro-denominated portion of the fixed price under the FSD was converted into dollars. As a result, we will not bear any foreign currency exchange risk under the FSD going forward.

We entered into the Facility in October 2010 and have borrowed $135.1 million under the Facility as of December 31, 2010. A portion of the draws we make under the Facility bear interest at a floating rate equal to the LIBOR plus 1.95% and will, accordingly, subject us to interest rate fluctuations in future periods. Had the currently outstanding borrowings under the Facility been outstanding throughout the year ended December 31, 2010, a one-half percentage point increase or decrease in the LIBOR would not have had a material effect on our interest cost.

 

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Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, receivables and payables. We maintain our cash and cash equivalents with financial institutions with high credit ratings and at times maintain the balance of our deposits in excess of federally insured (FDIC) limits. The majority of our cash is swept nightly into a money market fund invested in U.S. treasuries. Accounts receivable are due from both domestic and international customers. We perform credit evaluations of our customers’ financial condition and record reserves to provide for estimated credit losses. Accounts payable are owed to both domestic and international vendors.

 

Item  8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

 

     Page  

Iridium Communications Inc.:

  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     60   

Consolidated Balance Sheets

     61   

Consolidated Statements of Operations

     62   

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity and Comprehensive Income (Loss)

     63   

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

     64   

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

     65   

Iridium Holdings LLC – Predecessor Company:

  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     88   

Consolidated Statements of Income

     89   

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Members’ Deficit and Comprehensive Income

     90   

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

     91   

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

     92   

 

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and Stockholders of Iridium Communications Inc.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Iridium Communications Inc. as of December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and comprehensive income (loss), and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Iridium Communications Inc. at December 31, 2010 and 2009, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2010, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), Iridium Communications Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2010, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated March 7, 2011, expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

McLean, Virginia

March 7, 2011

 

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Iridium Communications Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share and per share data)

 

     December 31,
2010
    December 31,
2009
 

Assets

    

Current assets:

    

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 119,932      $ 147,178   

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $0 and $1,462, respectively

     50,278        41,189   

Inventory

     16,654        25,656   

Deferred tax assets, net

     5,784        2,481   

Income tax receivable

     11,103        505   

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     4,978        3,928   
                

Total current assets

     208,729        220,937   

Property and equipment, net

     566,519        401,666   

Restricted cash

     120        15,520   

Other assets

     694        1,127   

Intangible assets, net

     96,602        92,485   

Deferred financing costs

     87,746        —     

Goodwill

     87,039        94,661   
                

Total assets

   $ 1,047,449      $ 826,396   
                

Liabilities and stockholders’ equity

    

Current liabilities:

    

Accounts payable

   $ 28,132      $ 7,865   

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

     54,271        56,403   

Note payable

     22,223        —     

Deferred revenue

     28,215        20,027   

Deferred acquisition consideration

     —          4,636   
                

Total current liabilities

     132,841        88,931   

Accrued satellite operations and maintenance expense, net of current portion

     20,402        15,300   

Credit facility

     135,145        —     

Deferred tax liabilities, net

     100,728        93,326   

Other long-term liabilities

     2,814        1,365   
                

Total liabilities

     391,930        198,922   

Commitments and contingencies

    

Stockholders’ equity:

    

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 2,000,000 shares authorized and none issued and outstanding

     —          —     

Common stock, $0.001 par value, 300,000,000 shares authorized and 70,253,501 and 70,247,701 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2010 and 2009, respectively

     70        70   

Additional paid-in capital

     675,402        670,116   

Accumulated deficit

     (20,043     (42,734

Accumulated other comprehensive income

     90        22   
                

Total stockholders’ equity

     655,519        627,474   
                

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

   $ 1,047,449      $ 826,396   
                

See notes to consolidated financial statements

 

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Iridium Communications Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(In thousands, except per share amounts)

 

     Year Ended
December 31, 2010
    Year Ended
December 31, 2009
    Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 

Revenue:

      

Service

   $ 236,351      $ 53,014      $ —     

Subscriber equipment

     90,184        17,293        —     

Engineering and support service

     21,638        5,682        —     
                        

Total revenue

     348,173        75,989        —     

Operating expenses:

      

Cost of subscriber equipment sales

     61,661        18,657        —     

Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization)

     72,579        18,965        —     

Research and development

     19,178        5,974        —     

Depreciation and amortization

     90,667        22,376        —     

Selling, general and administrative

     66,728        17,029        490   

Transaction costs

     —          6,163        2,102   
                        

Total operating expenses

     310,813        89,164        2,592   
                        

Operating profit (loss)

     37,360        (13,175     (2,592

Other (expense) income:

      

Change in fair value of warrants

     —          (34,117     —     

Interest income, net of capitalized interest of $1,694, $0 and $0, respectively

     637        1,226        5,604   

Other (expense) income, net

     (2,385     26        —     
                        

Total other (expense) income

     (1,748     (32,865     5,604   
                        

Earnings (loss) before income taxes

     35,612        (46,040     3,012   

Income tax provision (benefit)

     12,921        (1,654     1,356   
                        

Net income (loss)

   $ 22,691      $ (44,386   $ 1,656   
                        

Weighted average shares outstanding – basic

     70,289        53,964        43,268   

Weighted average shares outstanding – diluted

     72,956        53,964        43,268   

Net income (loss) per share – basic

   $ 0.32      $ (0.82   $ 0.04   

Net income (loss) per share – diluted

   $ 0.31      $ (0.82   $ 0.04   

See notes to consolidated financial statements

 

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Iridium Communications Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity and Comprehensive Income (Loss)

(In thousands, except share data)

 

     Common Stock     Additional
Paid-in

Capital
    Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive

Income
     Accumulated
Retained
Earnings

(Deficit)
    Total
Stockholders’

Equity
    Comprehensive
Income (Loss)
 
     Shares     Amount             

Balance at December 31, 2007

     11,500,000      $ 11      $ 14      $ —         $ (4   $ 21     

Net proceeds from initial public offering of units (excludes $119,988 of proceeds allocable to 11,999,999 shares of common stock subject to possible conversion)

     40,000,000        40        260,546        —          —          260,586     

Proceeds from sale of stock purchase warrants

     —          —          8,000        —           —          8,000     

Forfeiture of common stock

     (3,000,000     (3     3        —           —          —       

Net income

     —          —          —          —           1,656        1,656      $ 1,656   
                                                   

Balance at December 31, 2008

     48,500,000        48        268,563      $ —          1,652        270,263     
                     

Total for the year ended December 31, 2008

                $ 1,656   
                     

Payment of deferred underwriters’ fees

     —          —          6,982        —           —          6,982     

Purchase of stock purchase warrants

     —          —          (1,828     —           —          (1,828  

Net proceeds from issuance of common stock

     16,000,000        16        148,734        —           —          148,750     

Fair value of stock issued in Acquisition

     29,443,500        29        333,419        —           —          333,448     

Purchase of common stock

     (9,169,979     (9     28,298        —           —          28,289     

Purchase of common stock under forward purchase contracts

     (16,325,196     (16     (164,868     —           —          (164,884  

Forfeitures of stock options and warrants

     (1,441,176     (1     1        —           —          —       

Reclassification of warrants to derivative instruments

     —          —          (28,555     —           —          (28,555  

Settlement of derivative instruments for warrants

     —          —          47,110        —           —          47,110     

Settlement of derivative instruments for shares of common stock

     1,244,923        1        12,448        —           —          12,449     

Stock-based compensation

     —          —          436        —           —          436     

Stock issued upon conversion of subordinated convertible note

     1,995,629        2        19,376        —           —          19,378     

Net loss

     —          —          —          —           (44,386     (44,386   $ (44,386

Cumulative translation adjustments

     —          —          —          22         —          22        22   
                                                   

Balance at December 31, 2009

     70,247,701        70        670,116        22         (42,734     627,474     
                     

Total for the year ended December 31, 2009

                $ (44,364
                     

Stock-based compensation

     —          —          5,242        —           —          5,242     

Stock issued upon exercise of stock purchase warrants

     3,300        —          23        —           —          23     

Stock issued upon exercise of stock options

     2,500        —          21        —           —          21     

Net income

     —          —          —          —           22,691        22,691      $ 22,691   

Cumulative translation adjustments

     —          —          —          68         —          68        68   
                                                   

Balance at December 31, 2010

     70,253,501      $ 70      $ 675,402      $ 90       $ (20,043   $ 655,519     
                                                         

Total for the year ended December 31, 2010

                $ 22,759   
                     

See notes to consolidated financial statements

 

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Iridium Communications Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In thousands, except share and per share data)

 

     Year Ended
December 31, 2010
    Year Ended
December 31, 2009
    Year Ended
December 31, 2008
 

Cash flows from operating activities:

      

Net income (loss)

   $ 22,691      $ (44,386   $ 1,656   

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:

      

Non-cash items included in net income (loss):

      

Deferred taxes

     11,721        (2,044     (1,168

Change in market value of warrants

     —          34,117        —     

Depreciation and amortization

     90,667        22,376        —     

Stock-based compensation

     5,051        436        —     

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

      

Restricted cash

     15,400        —          —     

Accounts receivable, net

     (9,089     5,382        —     

Inventory

     9,002        15,044        —     

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

     (1,050     (1,683     (12

Income tax receivable

     (10,598 )     (502     (3

Other noncurrent assets

     433        35        —     

Accounts payable

     3,428        3,584        —     

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

     (4,657     (5,564     1,613   

Accrued compensation and employee benefits

     4,513        (3,997     —     

Deferred revenue

     8,188        2,127        —     

Accrued satellite and network operations expense, net of current portion

     5,102        (1,020     —     

Other long-term liabilities

     636        (737     —     
                        

Net cash provided by operating activities

     151,438        23,168        2,086   

Cash flows from investing activities:

      

Changes in investment in trust account

     —          401,838        (401,838

Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired

     —          (39,950     —     

Payment of deferred acquisition consideration

     (4,636     —          —     

Capital expenditures

     (237,450     (7,351     —     
                        

Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities

     (242,086     354,537        (401,838

Cash flows from financing activities:

      

Proceeds from public offerings

     —          149,600        400,000   

(Purchase) proceeds from issuance of private placement warrants

     —          (4,940     8,000   

Purchase of shares of common stock

     —          (164,884     —     

Purchase of shares of common stock for no-votes

     —          (91,700     —     

Payment of underwriting fee

     —          (4,288     (6,900

Payment of costs associated with offering

     —          (850     (1,147

Payment on note payable to related party

     —          —          (256

Payments under Iridium Holdings credit facility

     —          (113,594     —     

Borrowings under credit facility

     135,145        —          —     

Payment of deferred financing fees

     (71,787     —          —     

Proceeds from exercise of warrants

     23        —          —     

Proceeds from exercise of stock options

     21        —          —     
                        

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

     63,402   <