Iridium Shareholders Back Rocket Lab Acquisition, FCC Next

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) shareholders have cleared the way for the Rocket Lab Iridium acquisition, voting on 24 September 2026 to approve the merger agreement that will fold the satellite operator into Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB). Roughly 99.6% of votes cast backed the deal, representing about 81.0% of Iridium’s outstanding shares entitled to vote, according to the companies’ joint announcement.

The result was never really in doubt – Iridium’s own directors, who control about 1.6% of outstanding shares, had already signed agreements committing to vote in favour, according to a filing with the SEC. The companies called the vote an “important milestone toward completion of transaction,” and the emphasis now shifts to the regulatory approvals still outstanding.

What the Rocket Lab Iridium acquisition actually pays

Under the terms struck when the merger agreement was signed on 28 June 2026, Iridium holders are entitled to $27.00 in cash plus Rocket Lab stock, with the exchange ratio governed by a collar between $67.50 and $112.50 a share, according to Rocket Lab’s prospectus filing. Combined, that put a notional value of $54.00 on each Iridium share at signing – implying an enterprise value of roughly $8bn – and represented a 24.1% premium to Iridium’s closing price the day before the deal was announced, as CNBC reported at the time. The structure is designed to be tax-free for US investors provided certain stock-to-cash thresholds are met; assuming completion, Iridium would be delisted from Nasdaq and deregistered entirely.

If it closes as planned, the deal reshapes Rocket Lab from a launch provider into what amounts to a vertically integrated space company – one that builds rockets and satellites and also owns the constellation those satellites fly in. Iridium operates the low-Earth-orbit network behind global satellite phone and data services; bolting that onto Rocket Lab’s launch and spacecraft manufacturing business is the strategic logic investors have been pricing in since the June announcement, when Rocket Lab shares jumped nearly 16% and Iridium’s soared 25% in a single session.

The real hurdle was never the shareholder vote

Antitrust clearance in the US came through on 12 August 2026, when the deal passed its Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, according to MLex. What remains is Federal Communications Commission approval to transfer Iridium’s satellite and spectrum licences to Rocket Lab – a review that, unlike Tuesday’s largely ceremonial vote, actually determines whether the companies hit their mid-2027 closing target. The FCC process involves its own public-interest test and can run on a timeline independent of ordinary merger clearances, which is why the companies continue to frame mid-2027 as an expectation rather than a promise, contingent on “remaining regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.”

Rocket Lab’s numbers heading into the deal

Rocket Lab arrives at this milestone with revenue that has climbed steadily – from $92.8m in the first quarter of 2024 to $234.1m in the second quarter of 2026, according to its quarterly filings – but it has yet to post a profitable quarter across that span. The most recent period showed a net loss of $49.3m, continuing a run of losses stretching back through every quarter since early 2024. That combination – fast top-line growth funded by continued cash burn – is the backdrop against which the Iridium purchase, financed partly in stock, will need to prove itself.

The market’s read on Tuesday was unambiguous: Rocket Lab shares closed at $74.36, up 3.08% on the day and 16.59% over the preceding 20 trading days, on volume 1.7 times the 20-day average. Daily short-sale volume in the stock – the share of trading volume attributable to short sellers, who borrow and sell shares betting the price will fall – had ranged between roughly 0.33 and 0.52 in the ten sessions before the vote, per FINRA data, showing no sign of a bearish build-up ahead of the meeting.

What comes next

With shareholder approval banked and antitrust clearance already secured, the FCC’s review of the licence transfer is now the pacing item for the Rocket Lab Iridium acquisition. Neither company has given a specific date for that decision, leaving mid-2027 as the working target investors are watching alongside any further regulatory filings as the process unfolds.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Markets move quickly; figures are correct as sourced at the time of writing. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.