WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2026 – Other satellite companies are not excited about Rocket Lab’s $8 billion acquisition of Iridium.
SpaceX, Ligado, and Globalstar have asked federal regulators to scrutinize Iridium’s past conduct as it reviews the deal, arguing the company has repeatedly sought to delay competitors’ deployments with frivolous regulatory filings.
The Federal Communications Commission “must consider the real public harms from Iridium’s years-long anticompetitive campaign when considering the transaction applications,” SpaceX satellite policy associate Matthew Turk wrote in a filing posted Tuesday.
Rocket Lab and Iridium have countered that the other companies’ concerns aren’t related to the deal at all, and shouldn’t factor into the agency’s review.
“Because these issues lack any temporal or causal connection to the Transaction, Commission precedent makes clear that they should not be addressed here,” the companies wrote in an Oct. 30 response to prior letters from SpaceX and Ligado.
Rocket Lab, which launches rockets, is acquiring Iridium largely for its exclusive direct-to-device spectrum, a scarce commodity that companies have spent billions to acquire recently.
The deal would allow Rocket Lab to stand up its own satellite services, something it didn’t have an easy path to doing without its own spectrum assets. The company has said it’s not aiming to challenge SpaceX’s lead in consumer direct-to-device service, though, and will focus more on “mission critical” communications tools for governments and enterprises.
Globalstar said in its own Oct. 30 letter that Rocket Lab supplied components for some of its satellites and developed Globalstar’s satellite control center. The company said that would give Rocket Lab the means to harm a competitor to Iridium.
“These arrangements will provide Rocket Lab with ongoing influence over the timing and performance of a future rival’s constellation and access to that rival’s spacecraft architecture, engineering requirements, operations workflows, and delivery schedules,” wrote L. Barbee Ponder, Globalstar’s general counsel.
Rocket Lab countered Monday that it had no control over Globalstar’s services. The company said it was a subcontractor on 17 satellites, 8 of which had already launched, and its role would be limited to maintenance once they were all in orbit.
“In any event, Globalstar also did not select Rocket Lab as the platform provider for its follow-on constellation,” wrote Amanda Rutenberg, Rocket Lab’s general counsel.
Other satellite companies have been making similar acquisitions aimed at exclusive direct-to-device airwaves. Globalstar is being acquired by Amazon for $11.6 billion, and SpaceX is spending $19.6 billion on spectrum from EchoStar. Both of those deals are expected to close next year.
