SSL selected to compete for Department of Defense small spacecraft contracts

SSL, a Maxar Technologies company (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.), a leading provider of innovative satellites and spacecraft systems, has been selected as one of three companies qualified to compete for Department of Defense business under a contract called Small Spacecraft Prototyping Engineering Development and Integration – Space Solutions (SSPEDI). NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley manages the contract under an interagency agreement with the Department of Defense's Space Rapid Capabilities Office.

SSPEDI establishes a rapid and flexible method for the Department of Defense's Space Rapid Capabilities Office to acquire commercially-developed solutions for small to medium spacecraft and related systems from a pool of pre-qualified candidates. As one of the awardees, SSL is eligible to compete for multiple future awards over the five-year ordering period of the contract, up to a cumulative value of $750 million. To supercharge its offerings, SSL is harnessing the collective power of Maxar Technologies, and will closely partner with Maxar's geospatial insights company, Radiant Solutions. Radiant will study next-generation systems for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance and contribute its world-class mission engineering expertise to the company's solutions.

SSPEDI is one of many successes over the last year. Other recent progress and achievements that demonstrate momentum in the US government market include:

• Expanding the scope of work on the NASA asteroid exploration mission Psyche, on track for its scheduled launch in 2022;
• Reaching a major milestone in building the spacecraft bus and robotic arms for the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites program, developed through a public-private partnership with DARPA;
• Progressing on schedule for both the spacecraft bus and robotic arms for NASA's Restore-L project to provide satellite servicing in Low Earth Orbit;
• Contracting with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to design and build critical equipment for a spacecraft that will explore Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter.

The company also continues to work across the U.S. Department of Defense, civil, and commercial space communities on several leading-edge programs and studies that aim to help U.S. government agencies define next-generation space technologies:

• Advanced space architectures for the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Enterprise Vision
• On-orbit assembly and manufacturing in LEO and critical technologies for servicing and space exploration for NASA
• Next-generation missile defense concepts for Missile Defense Agency
• Secure satellite communications for the U.S. Air Force