Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) (TSX:MAXR), a global technology innovator
powering the new space economy, today announced it has been selected by
NASA to build and perform a spaceflight demonstration of the lunar Gateway’s
power and propulsion element spacecraft. Blue Origin and Draper will
join the Maxar-led team in designing, building and operating the
spacecraft through the demonstration period. The power and propulsion
element is a key component to NASA’s overall plans to land American
astronauts on the surface of the Moon by 2024, and will be the first
segment of the Gateway tested in space.
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Maxar has been selected to build and fly the first element of NASA’s lunar Gateway (Photo: Business Wire)
Maxar previously conducted a four-month
study to develop affordable and innovative
electric-propulsion-enabled concepts for the power and propulsion
element spacecraft. Building on the successful completion of the study,
Maxar has been selected to proceed with development. The power and
propulsion element will provide power, maneuvering, attitude control,
communications systems and initial docking capabilities. Maxar is
currently targeting launch of the element on a commercial rocket by late
2022.
“Maxar Space Solutions is proud to play a critical role in enabling
American astronauts to build a sustainable presence on the Moon. Our
power and propulsion element partnership enables NASA to leverage
Maxar’s commercial capabilities to cost-effectively expedite plans for
sustainable exploration of the Moon, while also providing significant
benefits to American industry,” said Dan Jablonsky, Maxar CEO. “As a
valuable part of Maxar, our Space Solutions group serves the global
commercial and U.S. government satellite market.”
This firm-fixed price award includes an
indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity portion and carries a maximum
total value of $375 million. Following a successful demonstration period
of up to one-year, NASA could acquire the spacecraft for use as the
first element of the Gateway.
“The Gateway will give us a strategic presence on and around the Moon.
It will drive our activity with commercial and international partners
and help us explore the entire lunar surface and its resources,” said
William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator, Human Exploration and
Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We
will ultimately translate that experience toward human missions to Mars.”
Maxar’s power and propulsion element design is based on our powerful 1300-class
platform, which provides flexibility for a broad range of applications
and technological advances. There are 91 spacecraft based on the 1300
currently on orbit for commercial operators – more than any other model
of communications satellite. Maxar’s 1300-class spacecraft platform is
also the basis for NASA’s Psyche mission, which will explore an
all-metal asteroid beyond Mars in 2026, and NASA’s Restore-L spacecraft,
which will refuel the Landsat-7 satellite in 2022.
High-power solar electric propulsion will be used to efficiently
maneuver the power and propulsion element into its orbit and
subsequently move the Gateway between lunar orbits over its lifetime to
maximize NASA’s science and exploration operations. Maxar’s extensive
experience with solar electric propulsion includes 36 spacecraft
on-orbit today and more than 100,000 hours of firing time.
A key element of Maxar’s power and propulsion element design is the Roll
Out Solar Array (ROSA). ROSA is a groundbreaking, compact, modular
and scalable solar array system that rolls up for launch instead of
folding like an accordion. ROSA is a highly mass-efficient, qualified
technology that can be scaled up to 200kW and above for high-power
operations. ROSA was successfully tested on the International Space
Station in 2017 and is available for use on all of Maxar’s spacecraft
platforms.
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.
About Maxar Technologies
As a global leader of advanced space technology solutions, Maxar is at
the nexus of the new space economy, developing and sustaining the
infrastructure and delivering the information, services, and systems
that unlock the promise of space for commercial and government markets.
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. As a trusted partner with 5,900 employees in over 30
global locations, Maxar provides vertically integrated capabilities and
expertise including satellites, Earth imagery, robotics, geospatial data
and analytics to help customers anticipate and address their most
complex mission-critical challenges with confidence. Every day, billions
of people rely on Maxar to communicate, share information and data, and
deliver insights that Build a Better World. Maxar trades on the New York
Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange as MAXR. For more information,
visit www.maxar.com.
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