Iridium Communications. Transformational satellite IoT (or “satIoT”) solutions.
Here’s some background:
With 760+ total employees and contractors worldwide (450+ value-added partners and 2.1 million global subscribers, to boot), global satellite communications company Iridium (News - Alert) provides access to voice and data services everywhere it can. Managing several corporate and technical operations centers from McLean, Virginia to Chandler and Tempe, Arizona (in addition to ground stations in Punta Arenas, Chile, Fairbanks, Alaska and Svalbard, Norway), Iridium’s satIoT services keep people — and the sprawl of sophisticated “things” comprising the Internet of Things — connected on land, at sea, or in the air.
Speaking of connections (i.e. connectivity is the very lifeblood of IoT, of course), an ABI Research forecast points to the satellite IoT market surpassing 26 million connections by 2030, representing a market size of $4 billion. What makes satIoT unique in how it stands apart from traditional connectivity is how it a.) extends to super remote areas (enabling data communication where terrestrial networks can’t reach), b.) provides highly reliable connectivity in even some of the most extreme weather conditions, and c.) can be operated on unlicensed bands for LoRa, licensed spectrum for NTN NB-IoT, unlicensed band for Wi-Fi and more.
This is altogether the basis for Iridium’s satIoT-focused announcement made earlier this month:
Iridium Communications has officially launched both the Iridium Certus 9704 (its newest IoT module), and the accompanying Iridium Certus 9704 Development Kit.
Here are the details:
Built into an ultra-slim module, the Iridium Certus (News - Alert) 9704 module — supported by IMT, a cloud-native, server-device messaging format that optimizes Iridium’s network capabilities to match increasing demand in IoT/IIoT — reportedly integrates “with products of any scale to delivery cloud-ready data” over Iridium’s satIoT network. And alongside it, the Iridium Certus 9704 Development Kit is a useful end-to-end evaluation tool; it bundles hardware, software and satellite connectivity components to streamline experiences with the module for both tech-savvy and novice users, alike.
Overall, with architecture that simplifies large data transfer requirements (e.g. for use cases including predictive industrial maintenance, telemetry monitoring, remote asset tracking, etc.), in such a sleek form factor, Iridium leadership believes this cutting-edge module is a sure-fire next step towards bringing satellite IoT possibilities mainstream.
“We've now packed more capability and ease-of-integration value into the smallest module ever from Iridium, as the Iridium Certus 9704 is 34% smaller than the Iridium 9603, 79% smaller than the Iridium 9602, and has an 83% reduction in idle power consumption compared to both,” explained Matt Desch (News - Alert), CEO of Iridium Communications. “At every turn, we innovate. This is why, when companies choose to develop with Iridium, they know they’re partnering with a true leader in expertly designed satellite IoT. We will continue to support teams through the development and deployment of their solutions, and we’re very excited to see how they implement this new Iridium Certus 9704 technology.”
Learn about plenty of other exciting Internet of Things developments at IoT Evolution Expo 2025! This will be taking place from February 11-13, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW experience, this event combines educational conference programming with a robust exhibit hall, networking events and other activities, bringing together buyers and providers of business technology products and services that are huge for IoT.