NASA has awarded blanket purchase agreements to three companies to provide the agency with Earth observation data sets derived from constellations of commercial small satellites. Maxar Technologies’ DigitalGlobe subsidiary, Planet and Spire received the sole-source contracts under the agency’s Private Sector Small Constellation Satellite Data Product Pilot program, NASA said Friday. “This pilot program is […] More

Two Maxar Technologies subsidiaries will work together to develop a space-based layer prototype concept designed to help the Missile Defense Agency detect and track missile threats. SSL will leverage and combine its space systems expertise with Radiant Solutions’ experience in ground systems engineering to build the Space Sensor Layer, Maxar said Wednesday. “We are honored […] More

NASA has picked Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary to develop two spacecraft technologies under the agency’s Tipping Point program. SSL will work with NASA through a public-private partnership to demonstrate an in-orbit fuel transfer system to support on-orbit refueling and servicing missions, Maxar said Monday. The company and the space agency will also develop a dual-mode electric propulsion […] More

Maxar Technologies‘ DigitalGlobe business has secured a $3.2M contract from the the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to build a technology platform for military and intelligence agencies to access unclassified geospatial data. The Geospatial Cloud Analytics Hub platform is intended to help users obtain insights and make decisions with cloud-based machine learning, Maxar said Monday. DigitalGlobe will […] More

Maxar Technologies‘ DigitalGlobe business has added imagery from an MDA-built Earth observation satellite to a cloud-based technology platform built to help government analysts obtain geospatial intelligence data. SecureWatch users can start to access Radarsat-2 synthetic aperture radar data beginning on Oct. 1 via a subscription service, Maxar said Monday. The GEOINT platform will also feature both SAR and optical imagery, the company added. DigitalGlobe […] More

NASA has chosen Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary to study the feasibility of using space-based commercial habitats as satellite manufacturing facilities. SSL said Wednesday it believes establishing a capacity to build satellites in space will help save time and resources by doing away with launch vehicle volumes and schedules, as well as help save the spacecraft from harsh conditions […] More

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has concluded a preliminary design review of a satellite servicing system being developed in collaboration with Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary. DARPA said Friday results of the assessment showed that the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites payload could operate for several years and repair at least 20 commercial and government […] More

The Space Enterprise Consortium has chosen Maxar Technologies‘ SSL subsidiary to develop antenna subsystems for the U.S. Air Force‘s Space and Missile Systems Center to secure tactical satellite communications. SSL said Thursday it aims to create, analyze and test subsystem prototypes as part of a military satcom resiliency demonstration effort under the contract from the Advanced Technology International-managed consortium. Richard White, president of […] More

Tony Frazier, president of Radiant Solutions and a three-time Wash100 recipient, has said the company partnered with U.S. defense and intelligence companies in the past six months to share its geospatial analytics experience in support of their national security missions. The Maxar Technologies subsidiary collaborated with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency over the Janus Geography program and launch of a new […] More

Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary has been tapped by Zin Technologies to develop and test a flight system designed for NASA’s Psyche mission that aims to explore a metal asteroid and help shed light on the Earth’s formation. The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed the Psyche Compute Element that will work as the main computer onboard […] More

A communications satellite SSL built for telecommunications firm PT Telkom Indonesia has started conducting post-launch maneuvers a day after its liftoff aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Merah Putih released the satellite’s solar arrays and would fire its primary thruster to reach final orbit, SSL parent company Maxar Technologies said Tuesday. The system is designed to provide internet and telephone […] More

Rob Zitz, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for government systems at Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary, has said he believes intelligence and defense agencies will look to small satellites in the next few years to build up the capabilities of large spacecraft owned and run by the government, SpaceNews reported Tuesday. “We see growth […] More