Iridium Announces Management Succession

Arlington, VA./October 1, 2003/Satnews/  Iridium Holdings LLC, holding company for satellite communications company Iridium Satellite LLC, today announced that Dan Colussy will retire as chairman of the board.  Mr. Colussy, who shepherded the company from its founding in December 2000 through to financial break-even, will continue his association with Iridium as an Investor and member of the board of directors with the title of chairman emeritus.  Carmen Lloyd, who until recently served as president and chief executive officer of Stratos Global Corporation (Toronto: SGB)  has been named as chairman and chief executive officer of Iridium Holdings LLC and its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, Iridium Satellite LLC, effective immediately. Gino Picasso will continue in his position as president of Iridium Satellite LLC.

In December 2000, Colussy and a small group of investors founded Iridium Satellite LLC by acquiring the assets of Iridium LLC out of bankruptcy.  Under Colussy's leadership, the new company launched service four months later and has since grown into a leader in the Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS) marketplace, providing voice and data services to commercial, government and individual users worldwide.  Today's changes reflect an orderly management transition for Iridium Satellite as it moves into a new phase of growth and opportunity now that the company has achieved an operating cash flow positive status.

"Since launching this venture over three years ago, we have set up a distribution system and rolled out service globally; secured major contracts with both commercial and government customers; launched spare satellites and significantly lengthened the working life of the constellation," according to Colussy.  "Now that we have reached the critical milestone of cash flow positive operations, the time has come to turn over this position to Carmen Lloyd, an experienced satellite communications executive who will provide the leadership for Iridium as it enters the next phase of its development and continues its dramatic growth in new services and new user applications."

Lloyd brings more than 15 years of leadership experience with multinational corporations including Rolls Royce plc, Canadian Marconi Company, Pratt and Whitney Canada and Westinghouse Canada.  In his most recent position as CEO of Stratos Global, Lloyd helped the publicly-traded company triple its revenues over a three-year period while also raising significant capital.

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