By Micah Maidenberg

Satellite operator Iridium Communications agreed to take full control of a company that tracks airplane movements, betting it can grow the air data provider into a bigger business.

Iridium said it would acquire the roughly 61% stake in the Aireon joint venture that it doesn't already own for about $368 million. It will also assume about $155 million in debt as part of the deal. Sellers include Nav Canada, a nonprofit that oversees air traffic across Canada.

Shares of Iridium have more than doubled over the past six months, as investors speculate on the value of the company's spectrum holdings in light of recent deals struck by SpaceX and Amazon.com.

Iridium formed Aireon in 2011, with the venture later receiving investments from authorities focused on air navigation. Iridium's fleet of low-Earth orbit satellites underpin Aireon's operations, hosting payloads that allow the venture to collect data from aircraft.

Aireon's customers use the information to continuously trace plane locations to manage operations and better route traffic. Its system currently tracks an average of 190,000 flights per day.

Matt Desch, Iridium's chief executive, said bringing the air-data venture in-house will fuel growth at both companies. Iridium has been pushing to develop a bigger business around aviation safety, ranging from safety communications to navigation.

Aireon has been working on a plan for a future fleet of up to 20 satellites.

"We're kind of declaring ourselves to be the leaders in cockpit communications," he said in an interview. "This is a critical area we want to be part of."

McLean, Va.-based Iridium is among the satellite companies facing pressure from SpaceX's satellite business. The Elon Musk-led company's plans to connect cellphones and other devices using Starlink satellites would compete directly with Iridium's satellite-to-device offerings, which include a satellite phone, analysts say.

Amazon is also setting plans for a devices-connectivity business, using the satellite fleet it is deploying.

Plane tracking using satellites is known by its industry acronym, ADS-B. There are also ground-based systems for using the technology. Consumers and hobbyists use the technology to view aircraft movements through online-tracking portals.

Several years ago, Aireon sent its data to air-safety authorities to help with the crash of Boeing's 737 MAX jet during Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which killed 157. Authorities said they found similarities between the flight and the Lion Air 737 MAX that had crashed earlier.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 14, 2026 12:28 ET (16:28 GMT)

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