By collapsing satellite, LTE-M, and GNSS into a single module, Iridium is pushing hybrid satellite-cellular IoT from niche use cases into mainstream, volume deployments. This integration shifts value from bespoke hardware design to service orchestration and application software, favoring OEMs and solution providers that can exploit intelligent network selection. It also pressures competing satellite IoT players to offer tighter module-level convergence or risk fragmentation. More broadly, the move illustrates how non-terrestrial networks are being normalized as just another access layer in converged IoT connectivity stacks.
Smaller, purpose-built, and designed for scale, the new Iridium 9604 unifies satellite, cellular, and GNSS in a single platform engineered for global IoT
Iridium Communications Inc., a leading provider of global voice, data, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, today unveiled the Iridium 9604, a compact, three-in-one IoT module that integrates Iridium Short Burst Data® (SBD®) satellite service, LTE-M cellular connectivity, and GNSS positioning into a single platform.
By combining these features in one device, the Iridium 9604 reduces solution complexity, lowers costs, and accelerates time to market, making dual-mode IoT connectivity viable for price-sensitive, high-volume deployments.
Tim Last, executive vice president, Iridium, said:
“By integrating cellular, GNSS, and Iridium satellite into a single, power-efficient module, we’re giving customers the flexibility to design and deploy lower cost, smaller, power-efficient, and location-aware solutions without the burden of integrating multiple components.”
“With our best-in-class proprietary satellite IoT service and upcoming standards-based NB-IoT service debuting this year, anyone thinking about IoT beyond terrestrial networks is thinking about Iridium first.”
The Iridium 9604 beta program, which launched earlier this year and was oversubscribed by a select group of companies, has generated positive industry feedback highlighting:
- Lower costs, simplified design, and enabling of location-aware network selection
- Savings of 60 percent or more in board space with the 3-in-1 module, Iridium’s smallest-ever form factor
- Easy to use developer resources
“As an early Iridium 9604 developer, utilizing the three-in-one module has already fundamentally changed our product economics,” said Alastair MacLeod, CEO, Ground Control. “We eliminated two components from our bill of materials, reduced our board size, and simplified our power architecture.”
MacLeod continued, “Additionally, having dual mode connectivity options enables a smarter, location-aware network selection in our application. The Iridium 9604 turned what would have been a complex multi-component design into a single-module solution. This is a major breakthrough for our IoT solutions.”
“Our customers require essential data and real-time intelligence to operate with confidence anywhere in the world,” said Dean Welten, CEO, Everlink. “By integrating the Iridium 9604 with our secure cloud platform, we can now enable global connectivity, greater operational efficiency, and measurable impact at scale.”
Representing the next phase of Iridium’s IoT strategy, the Iridium 9604 is moving the company beyond traditional satellite-only modules to a unified, multi-mode connectivity architecture.
The Iridium network now offers customers three IoT service paths to follow:
- Iridium SBD packaged with cellular and GNSS in the Iridium 9604 or SBD/Iridium Burst dedicated modules
- Iridium NTN Direct for standards-based direct-to-device using third-party chips
- Iridium Messaging Transport-based (IMT®) for industrial-scale, larger payload capabilities with the Iridium Certus 9704
The Iridium 9604, built on the u-blox SARA-R5 platform, delivers a compact 16 mm x 26 mm x 2.4 mm form factor, best for dual-mode IoT deployments previously cost-prohibitive across industrial, infrastructure, and mobility applications.
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