/ SPACE INTELLIGENCE

news / financial

financialseismic2026-06-29

Rocket Lab agrees to acquire Iridium in $8 billion cash-and-stock deal

Rocket Lab agreed to acquire Iridium Communications in a cash-and-stock deal valuing Iridium at about $8 billion enterprise value.

Rocket Lab and Iridium Communications said they signed a definitive agreement for Rocket Lab to acquire all outstanding Iridium common stock, per a joint press release filed as an exhibit to Rocket Lab's 8-K with the SEC on June 29, 2026. Iridium stockholders will receive $27.00 in cash plus Rocket Lab shares under an exchange ratio collared between $67.50 and $112.50, a structure the companies say has a notional value of $54.00 per Iridium share and implies an $8.0 billion enterprise value. Both boards approved the deal unanimously, Rocket Lab has commitments for a $3.6 billion bridge loan from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo, and the companies expect to close in mid-2027 subject to Iridium stockholder and regulatory approval. On July 6, 2026, Iridium said it completed its acquisition of the remaining 61% of Aireon, the space-based air-traffic-surveillance venture it did not already own, paying about $367 million to providers in Canada, England, Denmark, Ireland, and Italy, per SpaceNews, consolidating Aireon as a wholly owned subsidiary ahead of the Rocket Lab deal's close.

financialseismic2026-06-12

SpaceX goes public on Nasdaq, raising $75 billion in the largest IPO on record

SpaceX sold 555.6M shares at $135 and closed its first day near $161, a $2.1 trillion valuation, per CNBC.

SpaceX priced 555,555,555 Class A shares at $135.00 each in its initial public offering, for proceeds to the company before expenses of $74,499,999,925, and began trading on Nasdaq on June 12 under the ticker SPCX. Per its prospectus, underwriters hold a 30-day option for up to 83,333,333 additional shares, and Elon Musk retains about 82.4% of voting power after the offering through the dual-class structure. Per CNBC, the stock opened at $150, closed near $161, up 19%, valuing the company around $2.1 trillion, with more than 500 million shares traded on the first day; TechCrunch called it the largest IPO in history, eclipsing Saudi Aramco's 2019 debut.

All news