Iridium wins five year US Space Force contract to upgrade EMSS infrastructure

by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 03, 2025

Iridium Communications Inc. has secured a five year indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract from the US Space Force Space Systems Command Commercial Space Office worth up to 85.8 million dollars.

The System Infrastructure Transformation and Hybridization contract covers technology refreshes, lifecycle upgrades, and security improvements for the Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services Service Center, Technical Support Center, and Defense Ground Station.

SITH follows the Gateway Evolution Contract awarded to Iridium in 2019, extending work on core ground infrastructure that supports Department of Defense use of the Iridium network.

Iridium's satellite network provides global voice, data, and positioning, navigation and timing services intended to support mission critical communications for military users under a wide range of environmental conditions.

SITH is described as the latest of three core EMSS agreements between Iridium and the US Space Force, alongside the EMSS Airtime Contract and the Capabilities and Security Sustainment Services Contract awarded in April 2024.

Under the EMSS Airtime Contract, the Defense Department and other federal users receive global satellite communications access with no usage caps or user number limits, while the ECS3 agreement focuses on sustaining performance at the EMSS Service Center and Defense Ground Station.

"Through this contract, Iridium and the U.S. Space Force will continue to innovate and deliver resilient, secure and highly reliable mission-critical communications," said Scott Scheimreif, executive vice president, Iridium.

"Our solutions with the Department of Defense are designed to serve every layer of the warfighter's P.A.C.E. (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency) plan. We look forward to supporting the U.S. and our allies through new technology introductions and ongoing collaboration."

Iridium operates a low Earth orbit constellation designed to provide global coverage for voice and data links, supporting situational awareness and asset tracking in remote or harsh environments.

The company is also under contract to establish the ground Operations and Integration segment for Tranche 1 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, linking its network operations expertise to wider US Space Force architectures.