U.S. Department of Defense awards Iridium five-year Gateway Evolution Contract

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

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

The Iridium constellation provides real-time, two-way voice, data, messaging, narrowband, midband and broadband services. This includes the Iridium Certus L-band communications platform offering IP-based services through small form factor antennas and terminals, initially for maritime and land-mobile applications.