It’s sometimes easy to forget that video calling anybody on the other side of the world only became mainstream less than 20 years ago. Yet with the ability to reach loved ones without counting the minutes, track the location of virtually any item, and transfer data faster and easier than ever before, it’s probably fair to say that we now take constant connectivity for granted. Businesses and governments can also operate with incredible efficiency, maintaining effective and reliable communication, facilitating valuable insights, and ensuring immeasurable safety.

As the only commercial provider of communications services offering truly global coverage, Iridium Communications have been helping to connect people, organizations, and assets to and from anywhere, in real time for over two decades. The company’s low-earth orbit, L-band network provides reliable, weather-resilient communications services to regions of the world where terrestrial wireless or wireline networks do not exist or are limited.

The company’s main product is a global satellite constellation called the Iridium satellite network, which provides communications coverage over the entire Earth, including the poles. The network which is composed of 66 active satellites is used to provide a variety of communication services, including voice and data services, to almost two million business, government, and individual customers. In addition, Iridium also provides a wide range of products and services related to satellite-based location and tracking, as well as industry-specific communications applications across the aviation and shipping sectors.

Given the lack of coverage of most of the earth’s surface by terrestrial wireless systems, Iridium’s unique satellite network has it well-positioned to capitalize on the growth in the industry from end users who require reliable, easy-to-use mobile communications services in all locations. Furthermore, with the significant financial investment, as well as technological and regulatory challenges to build such a global capability, the company’s strong partnerships with U.S. and foreign governments have it primed for continued growth.