Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) (TSX:MAXR) has been awarded multiple contracts in the first quarter of 2019 to provide innovative Earth intelligence solutions to U.S. government agencies, with a total value of more than $95 million.
As announced in January, Maxar is now fully domesticated in the U.S. and has a combined team of more than 1,550 cleared professionals. U.S. domestication has made it easier for Maxar to bring its integrated capabilities to bear for national security customers seeking to apply commercial innovation to support classified mission requirements. Recent contract wins include:
- The U.S. Air Force awarded Maxar a multi-year contract worth more than $70 million to deliver a testbed for the development and integration of automated intelligence and machine learning capabilities into operations. Maxar will work closely with the Air Force to demonstrate the operational value of advanced analytics in day-to-day operations.
- U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) awarded Maxar a five-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract and three task orders under that contract for a program called the 3D Data Engineering Lab. Maxar will leverage its advanced expertise in machine learning, computer vision, crowdsourcing, software engineering and geospatial analysis to enable USSOCOM to rapidly sift through massive amounts of geospatial data to reveal actionable insight. Maxar will be eligible for multiple future awards over the five-year ordering period of the contract and up to a cumulative value of $6 million.
- The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) awarded Maxar two delivery order contracts worth $7 million to continue providing updates and enhancements for its sophisticated change detection and land cover and classification solutions. Maxar-developed machine learning algorithms allow analysts to quickly and effectively focus their attention on locations where change persists over at least three different dates of satellite imagery collection. And the company's global-scale land cover and classification capabilities support NGA's geospatial modeling and mission planning applications.
Maxar was also awarded a number of classified contracts generating an additional value of more than $12 million.
Maxar has been a trusted mission partner to the U.S. defense and intelligence community for decades and has continued to gain momentum over the last year. For the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the company continues to provide the highest resolution and most accurate and reliable commercial satellite imagery available. Maxar has served NGA since 1999 and recently announced that it is leading a team to provide content management of community-sourced topographic and human geography data for the agency’s Janus Geography program.
Maxar is also expanding the development of machine learning and crowdsourcing capabilities to augment global GEOINT missions on the NGA’s Small Business Innovation Research program and providing on-demand access to mission-ready satellite imagery through the Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery program.
Tony Frazier, Maxar’s EVP of Global Field Operations, said these contract awards reflect Maxar’s unwavering commitment to serving the U.S. national security community with innovative solutions that meet their most demanding requirements. Now that the company is operating as one Maxar, it offers an unrivaled portfolio of solutions that include spacecraft manufacturing and robotics, electro-optical and radar satellite imagery, industry-leading AI and geospatial machine learning capabilities. All of these capabilities are built on a commercial foundation that enables the company to rapidly address the needs of the U.S. government and other global defense and intelligence customers.
The operations of DigitalGlobe, SSL (Space Systems Loral) and Radiant Solutions were unified under the Maxar brand in February; MDA continues to operate as an independent business unit within the Maxar organization.