Iridium Communications Inc
For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Feb 15, 2024.
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FY2023 · Filed Feb 15, 2024
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Report of KPMG LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors
Iridium Communications Inc.:
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of Iridium Communications Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss), changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years then ended, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Changes in estimated useful lives of satellites
As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s satellites are depreciated using the straight-line method over their respective estimated useful lives, which was extended from 12.5 years to 17.5 years during the fourth quarter of 2023. The Company applied judgment in determining the useful lives based on factors such as engineering data relating to the operation and performance of its satellite network, the Company’s long-term strategy for using the assets, and the manufacturer’s estimated design life for the assets. As discussed in Note 4, as of December 31, 2023, the Company had recorded $1,926,487 thousand in total depreciable property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation, which included its satellites.
We identified the evaluation of the determination of changes in estimated useful lives of satellites as a critical audit matter. A high degree of subjective auditor judgment was required to evaluate the Company’s estimated useful lives of the satellites. Specifically, assessing the factors used to determine the estimated useful lives required subjective auditor judgment due to the degree of uncertainty associated with the outcome of uncertain future events which required forward looking assumptions. Changes to the estimated useful lives of satellites could have a significant impact on the timing of recognition of depreciation expense and hosted payload revenue.
The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of an internal control related to the Company’s process to determine changes in the estimated useful lives of its satellites. We involved valuation professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in evaluating the estimated useful lives of the satellites by:
comparing the Company’s useful life estimates to the manufacturer’s estimated design life, and the lives of its first-generation satellite constellation
reading publicly available information on the estimated useful lives of similar assets
inquiring of operations and engineering management personnel regarding satellite operation and performance
evaluating the Company’s longevity assessment for the satellites
evaluating the effect of changes, if any, in the Company’s long-term strategy for use of the assets on the useful life estimates.
/s/KPMG LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2022.
McLean, Virginia
February 15, 2024
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