{"id":14838,"date":"2017-02-27T22:15:09","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T14:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/canadas-mda-buys-digitalglobe-reveals-next-generation-worldview-satellite-fleet\/"},"modified":"2017-02-27T22:15:09","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T14:15:09","slug":"canadas-mda-buys-digitalglobe-reveals-next-generation-worldview-satellite-fleet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/canadas-mda-buys-digitalglobe-reveals-next-generation-worldview-satellite-fleet\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s MDA buys DigitalGlobe, reveals next-generation WorldView satellite fleet"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Artist\u2019s concept of the WorldView 4 satellite launched by DigitalGlobe in November. Credit: DigitalGlobe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The acquisition of DigitalGlobe, the owner of several commercial Earth-viewing spacecraft in orbit, by Canada\u2019s MDA Corp. will combine two of the world\u2019s leading radar and optical observation imaging systems into one globe-spanning network and give Space Systems\/Loral a firmer foothold in the market for manufacturing Earth observation satellites, officials said Friday.<\/p>\n

The companies announced MDA\u2019s purchase of DigitalGlobe on Friday, touting cost savings, sales and revenue opportunities, and operational efficiencies as the chief reasons for the transaction.<\/p>\n

Subject to U.S. government regulatory approvals, the combination will make MDA an \u201cend-to-end\u201d space contractor, with segments building spacecraft, developing communications and space robotics technologies, and offering surveillance services from orbit with radar and optical commercial spy satellites, according to Howard Lance, MDA\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe this combination uniquely positions MDA to both lead and benefit from the continuing transformation of space technology markets,\u201d Lance said Feb. 24 in a conference call announcing MDA\u2019s acquisition of DigitalGlobe. \u201cWe will be one of only a few companies with this kind of breadth and depth in space-related solutions ideally suited to solving today\u2019s complex customer missions.\u201d<\/p>\n

DigitalGlobe will remain headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, as a \u201cstandalone\u201d division of MDA, retaining its name and brand, said Jeffrey Tarr, the company\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n

MDA will buy DigitalGlobe for $2.4 billion in cash and stock. The Canadian company will also assume DigitalGlobe\u2019s $1.2 billion debt load, officials said.<\/p>\n

The acquisition will \u201ccreate a geospatial leader with a powerful combination of satellite manufacturing, ground systems, radar and electro-optical imagery and analytics, with industry-leading positions in each of our end markets,\u201d Tarr said.<\/p>\n

DigitalGlobe operates the WorldView series of Earth observation satellites, including the recently-launched WorldView 4 observatory which entered commercial service earlier this month and is capable of seeing objects as small as 30 centimeters, or about one foot, in high-resolution reconnaissance imagery.<\/p>\n

The older WorldView 1, 2 and 3 satellites were launched in 2007, 2009 and 2014, and DigitalGlobe on Friday discussed high-level features of the company\u2019s next-generation \u201cWorldView Legion\u201d satellite constellation for the first time.<\/p>\n

Tarr did not disclose how many satellites will be launched in the WorldView Legion fleet, but he said the new spacecraft will begin launching in 2020, when the WorldView 1 and 2 satellites will be near retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMDA is committed to supporting DigitalGlobe\u2019s ability to execute on our future constellation strategy,\u201d Tarr said. \u201cThis includes initial investments in 2017 in the long-lead time elements of our next-generation satellite system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WorldView Legion constellation is \u201cmuch more than just a replacemenet for WorldView 1 and 2,\u201d Tarr said. \u201cWe expect this industry-leading multi-satellite system to more than double our high-resolution capacity in regions where it matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n

DigitalGlobe has partnered with Saudi Arabia\u2019s King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology and Taqnia Space to build six small Scout imaging satellites to complement the larger spacecraft in the WorldView fleet, offering faster revisit times to fly over parts of the planet with greater rapidity.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with Scout, we will extend our lead by delivering to customers the ability to image the most rapidly changing regions on Earth up to 40 times per day, combined with the ability to see areas of interest with industry-leading resolution and accuracy,\u201d Tarr said.<\/p>\n

DigitalGlobe, whose main customer is the U.S. government, plans to invest up to $600 million in the WorldView Legion program, Tarr said.<\/p>\n

MDA\u2019s Space Systems\/Loral division, which it acquired in 2012, will build the WorldView Legion satellites in Palo Alto, California. DigitalGlobe\u2019s previous WorldView platforms were manufactured by Ball Aerospace and Lockheed Martin in Colorado and California, respectively.<\/p>\n

SSL has branched out from focusing its manufacturing center on large commercial telecommunications satellites to smaller Earth-imaging and scientific missions.<\/p>\n

One of DigitalGlobe\u2019s competitors, Terra Bella, has tapped SSL to build 19 small SkySat Earth observation satellites, which offer lower-resolution imaging than the WorldView craft, but are spread out in Earth orbit to fly over the same place more often.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of the satellite contract, Terra Bella transferred SSL rights to part of its design, allowing SSL to apply the technology and know-how to other small satellite programs.<\/p>\n

Planet, another player in the Earth observation market, bought Terra Bella from Google earlier this month. Planet owns more than 100 CubeSats, with a goal of imaging the entire planet every day.<\/p>\n

Some of SSL\u2019s new small satellite expertise could now find its way into WorldView Legion.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the important aspects of this combination is access to SSL\u2019s very advanced manfuacturing capability and technology, and we believe that will contribute to reducing the capital intensity of the business,\u201d Tarr said, implying DigitalGlobe\u2019s future satellites will cost less to produce than earlier generations.<\/p>\n

Lance said DigitalGlobe, which has satellites collecting observations in optical and near-infrared bandwidths, will complement MDA\u2019s Radarsat all-weather imagery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have radar technologies. They have advanced imaging technologies,\u201d Lance said. \u201cTogether we can create true multi-source, multi-sensor data. It\u2019s all about turning that data then into actionable intelligence, whether that\u2019s for commercial customers or for global defense and intelligence applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

MDA\u2019s purchase of SSL and DigitalGlobe are part of the Canadian company\u2019s bid to attract more U.S. government business by boosting its presence in the United States. Lance, a U.S. citizen, was named MDA\u2019s chief executive last year as part of the effort.<\/p>\n

Lance said MDA recently signed a security control agreement with the U.S. Defense Department, and on Feb. 23 received a \u201cfacility clearance\u201d for SSL MDA Holdings, a U.S.-based holding company set up to permit better access to the U.S. government market.<\/p>\n

The next step is obtaining a facility clearance for SSL\u2019s manufacturing site in Palo Alto, California, Lance said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKey to our U.S. access effort was creating this new corporate structure to be able to pursue classified U.S. government space programs,\u201d Lance said.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist\u2019s concept of the WorldView 4 satellite launched by DigitalGlobe in November. Credit: DigitalGlobe The acquisition of DigitalGlobe, the owner of several commercial Earth-viewing spacecraft in orbit, by Canada\u2019s MDA Corp. will combine two of the world\u2019s leading radar and optical observation imaging systems into one globe-spanning network and give Space Systems\/Loral a firmer foothold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[584,291,1806,159,194,3397,2897,1198],"class_list":["post-14838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-canada","tag-commercial-space","tag-digitalglobe","tag-earth-observation","tag-mda","tag-scout","tag-space-systems-loral","tag-worldview-legion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}