Rocket Lab to Buy Iridium for $8B, NASA Picks L3Harris for Habitable Worlds Observatory, SpaceX Flies SXM-11 on Falcon 9

Rocket Lab agreed to acquire Iridium Communications for $54 per share in cash and stock, valuing the satellite operator at $8 billion in what Peter Beck called "the logical next step" for his company. The merger agreement, signed June 28 and expected to close in mid-2027, pairs Rocket Lab's Electron and coming Neutron launchers and satellite manufacturing base with Iridium's 66-satellite L-band constellation, roughly 2.55 million customers, and a nascent PNT service.

Beck told investors he chose acquisition over building because "you can spend many years building your satellites and launching your satellites, and it's like a decade before you get firm recurring revenue." Iridium CEO Matt Desch said the company had not solicited a sale and engaged bankers only after unsolicited industry interest, and the Iridium board unanimously recommended the deal.

NASA awarded L3Harris one of seven three-year, fixed-price contracts to develop picometer-level thermal and optical stability technology for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, work that will run out of Rochester, New York and build on L3Harris's thermal-control heritage from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Gilat separately disclosed $43 million of additional Sidewinder electronically steered antenna orders from a major in-flight connectivity provider, with line-fit and retrofit deliveries planned over the next 18 months.