[Satnews] Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:IRDM) has been awarded a $8.57 million task order, under the Gateway Modernization Efforts contract, from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), to make upgrades and enhancements to the U.S. Department of Defense's dedicated Iridium® gateway that will improve network effectiveness, enhance performance and enable continued preparation efforts for its next-generation, global satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT.

This milestone signifies Iridium's continued investment in enabling a global and reliable, secure network that supports mission-critical communications for the Department of Defense (DoD). Additionally, under the fixed-price Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) contract, the DoD and its partners have access to unlimited airtime service for voice, data, paging and Distributed Tactical Communications Services (DTCS).  This task order reinforces Iridium's strong and longstanding relationship with the DoD, and enables continued collaboration and modernization efforts to support warfighter communication needs now and into the future.

Iridium NEXT, Iridium's next-generation global satellite constellation, is scheduled to begin launching this year and for completion in late 2017. The new constellation will offer greater bandwidth and data speeds, dramatically enhancing Iridium's ability to meet the rapidly-expanding demand for truly global mobile communications on land, at sea and in the skies.