Maxar boosts space capabilities 📡 New NOAA agreement

Comprehensive space solutions and remote sensing services provider Maxar Technologies (MAXR.US) has received approval from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide extraterrestrial imaging services to government and commercial customers. The company will begin deploying its so-called NEI capability in 2023. Along with Maxar Technologies' stock, shares of Planet Labs (PL.US) and BlackSky Technologies (BKSY.US), with similar capabilities, also gained before the market opened:

• The NOAA organization modified the remote sensing licenses issued to Maxar and enabled extraterrestrial imaging capability for all of its current in-orbit satellites and their next generation known as WorldView Legion;
• The company's capabilities can provide customers with accurate information in support of critical phases of mission development and solve important space domain awareness (SDA) and space traffic management (STM) needs;
• With the new license, the company will be able to collect and sell images of objects in space in low earth orbit (LEO), i.e. in the area between 200 and 1,000 km from Earth. Sales will be able to be made to both government agencies and private customers;
• Currently, the Maxar constellation of satellites is capable of imaging objects at these altitudes with a resolution of less than 6 inches and supporting space object tracking:

"Maxar's new capability has been licensed at a crucial time for the space industry, when the rapid growth of space objects is creating an increasingly crowded low Earth orbit environment, creating new threats to government and commercial missions (.... ) With the support and hard work of NOAA, we are now able to leverage our long-held NEI capability to support critical national security missions, help commercial customers better protect and maintain their assets in orbit, and provide a new tool to assist in broader space industry initiatives" commented Dan Jablonsky, president and CEO of Maxar Technologies

The ability to provide high-resolution images of space objects is more important today than ever. With more than 4,800 active satellites currently in orbit and Euroconsult estimating that 17,000 more will be launched over the next decade, the scale of development is unprecedented. At the same time, it is estimated that there are millions of pieces of space debris in orbit around the Earth, and the impact of even the smallest fragment can cause damage to a satellite in orbit. Maxar can help address these challenges by bringing greater transparency to the near-Earth space domain, helping operators better protect and maintain equipment;

Identifying objects in space has also become important in the face of NASA and Harvard University, among others, conducting sky observation programs aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the phenomenon known as UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), to which the combined U.S. intelligence and naval services devoted attention by participating in a public and closed-door congressional hearing session in May of this year. Concerned about national security against space threats of unknown origin (the possibility of spying on Chinese and Russian satellites), the US Space Force has established the Space Delta 18 unit. The unit has already poifnormed hundreds of UAP sightings since its inception in June of this year. 

Maxar Technologies' New Capabilities:

SDA: (Space Domain Awareness): Assist in the identification and characterization of space objects, assess the operational environment for space missions 

STM: (Space Traffic Management): Supporting on-orbit collision risk assessment and maneuver planning, verification of projected end-of-life and controlled on-orbit collision avoidance

Satellite Operations: Navigation safety, condition assessment and monitoring of inoperable facilities

National security missions: Providing support to the U.S. government and its allies

Maxar Technologies (MAXR.US) shares, D1 interval. The price since May this year has been moving below the 200-session average (red line) which is the main resistance for bulls and runs around $27 per share. The demand side may want to test its strength; previous attempts in November ended in a sell-off, forming a bearish double peak formation. However, the bulls managed to erase the declines completely, and today's pre-opening market quotes indicate an opening above $26. Source: xStation5