Rocket Lab fully funds Iridium deal
September 16, 2026

By Chris Forrester



Rocket Lab was awarded ‘Best M&A’ at the Novaspace World Space Business Week in Paris on September 15th in recognition of its acquisition of satellite operator Iridium. The deal will close in mid-2027 once the usual regulatory approvals have been met. But Rocket Lab has also announced that it has fully funded its Iridium acquisition.

The acquisition is costing Rocket Lab some $8 billion (€6.9bn) in a stock + cash deal announced in June.


Rocket Lab has restructured some borrowing to make the numbers. It has terminated a $3.6 billion bridging loan taken out with Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo earlier this year. It has also raised $1.94 billion in a new stock offering after selling 29.3 million shares.

The end result is that combined with available cash and Iridium’s existing debt (which stays in place now with guarantees in place), Rocket Lab said it now has enough funding to cover the cash portion of the acquisition and related expenses.

Rocket Lab shares rose 4 per cent on the news.