JUN. 29 5:58 P.M. ET Tom Ridge, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, this week joined the board of directors at Iridium Satellite LLC.

The Bethesda, Md., firm supplies satellite communications to corporations and government agencies.

Ridge "brings a unique set of skills," said Dan Colussy, Iridium's chief executive, in an interview. Ridge's knowledge of homeland security, from national as well as state and local levels, "could be important to us as we move forward, grow the company and move into new strategic areas," Colussy said.

Ridge held the post of secretary of the newly created Department of Homeland Security soon after Sept. 11, 2001, until he left the post in early 2005. Prior to that, he was governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001 and a Congressman before that.

With Ridge, Iridium will now have eight members on its board of directors. He is the company's first independent board member.

Iridium's technical capabilities "has impressed upon me the key role this service can play in our nation and in the world," Ridge said in a statement.

In addition to his involvement with Iridium, Ridge is also a director on the boards of Exelon Corp., Home Depot Inc. and Savi Technology, which was just acquired by Lockheed Martin Corp. He is also on the government advisery board at Lucent Technologies Inc.

Privately held Iridium has a fleet of 77 satellites around the world. Formerly a unit of Motorola Inc., the company sought bankruptcy court protection in 1999 after it failed to sign up the millions of subscribers it had hoped for.

Since emerging from bankruptcy protection in 2000, Iridium has become profitable. In May, the company reported first-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $12.6 million, a 73.2 percent increase from the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 8.2 percent to $50.9 million.

Colussy said the company is planning to refinance its debt later this year and is still considering an initial public offering, but not anytime soon.

Also Thursday, Iridium Satellite, establishing a strategic relationship to help the U.S. government monitor ocean conditions, announced it will provide satellite data links needed to create and potentially expand a new tsunami warning system.

The initial contract covers only portions of the Pacific, but the company said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hopes to expand the system with the assistance of some Asian countries and eventually, the goal is to replicate it in other parts of the world.

Also cooperating in the project is Science Applications International Corp.

The Government Accountability Office earlier this year issued a report that was critical of U.S. tsunami-warning efforts and urged steps to eliminate various deficiencies.

The GAO said, among other things, that better coordination is needed with state agencies and fixes are necessary to reduce false warnings.

Business Week