First 'Iridium Next' Launch Delayed, Handed to SpaceX Because of Kosmotras Troubles

Iridium's launch plans for its Next constellation hit a hiccup. The first satellites are now due to be launched in June by SpaceX instead of in April by Kosmotras, CEO Matt Desch said in a conference call Thursday as the company announced Q4 financial results. That delay won't affect the constellation overall, Desch said, and it still will be up and operational by the end of 2017. Desch said Iridium found out days ago Kosmotras had yet to receive the approvals it needs from the Russian Ministry of Defense for the launch. "We just didn't want that kind of uncertainty in our program," he said, so while the Russian launch company works on approvals, the SpaceX launch that was to take place in July has been moved up to June. The rest of the Next launches will follow the current SpaceX schedule, with the next one to be in October, while the Kosmotras launch will be worked in when it's ready, Desch said: "This isn't that big a change from our overall plan." The amended launch schedule won't have major effects on customers and it doesn't significantly change the costs of Next, he said. Desch said a Spanish satellite launch is facing similar Kosmotras issues. Kosmotras didn't comment. Meanwhile, Desch said, production for its 66-satellite global broadband constellation is ramping up, with 12 in various stages of manufacture and Orbital ATK expecting to be producing six a month by July. For the quarter, Iridium said it had revenue of $106.4 million, up 6 percent, and ended the year with 782,000 subscribers, up from 739,000 at the end of 2014, with government business driving that growth. For 2016, Iridium said it expected service revenue growth of 4 to 6 percent, compared with 2.5 percent growth in 2015, with government work expected to offset sluggishness in commercial work. Long range, once Next is operational, service revenue is expected to be $420 million to $465 million in 2018, compared with roughly $242 million in 2015, the company said. Desch said its investment in Aireon, which plans to deploy a global satellite-based aircraft tracking and monitoring system in 2018, also is showing momentum as the company signs up new customers even before its launch. The FAA also is looking to test and validate space-based Aireon data, he said. "We believe the FAA use of Aireon data is a matter of when, not if." Iridium closed Thursday at $6.97, down 7 percent.