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On-Air Trials Underway: Iridium NTN Direct Prepares to Enter Beta as Testing Continues
Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM), a leading provider of global voice, data, and PNT satellite services, today announced successful on-air testing of Iridium NTN Direct℠, including two-way message transmission over its low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. This milestone marks a significant step forward as Iridium prepares for beta testing and commercial service of Iridium NTN Direct in 2026.
About this update from Iridium Communications Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"The first mobile-originated message sent over the Iridium NTN Direct service read: "To Iridium and Beyond."","length":117,"tagName":"p","attribs":{}},{"type":"text","content":"MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM), a leading provider of global voice, data, and PNT satellite services, today announced successful on-air testing of Iridium NTN Direct℠, including two-way message transmission over its low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. This milestone marks a significant step forward as Iridium prepares for beta testing and commercial service of Iridium NTN Direct in 2026.","length":450,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Iridium NTN Direct is being developed as the world's first truly global, standards-based NB-IoT and direct-to-device (D2D) non-terrestrial network (NTN) service. With Iridium NTN Direct, mobile network operators (MNOs) can extend coverage beyond terrestrial networks, while chipset makers and device manufacturers can integrate standardized satellite capability into their products to support this expanded reach. ","length":417,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":""Iridium NTN Direct is no longer a concept, it's on the air, sending messages, and now being rigorously tested to meet our elite performance standards," said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. "This milestone reinforces why mobile network operators and chipset makers are engaging with Iridium. We offer a low-risk, globally coordinated, and operational network designed to complement what they do, not compete with what they do."","length":447,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"The successful testing is leveraging new 5G waveform algorithms implemented on Iridium's software-defined satellites, supporting the NB-IoT standards-based protocol defined by 3GPP. Activated via software update to the Iridium constellation, the first mobile-originated messages were transmitted using the low power nRF9151 LTE-M/NB-IoT/NTN module from Nordic Semiconductor, a global leader in low power wireless connectivity solutions, reflecting Iridium's previously announced collaboration.","length":501,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":""This successful test proves that global connectivity is no longer limited by infrastructure – we can now deploy battery-powered connected ...