MDA continues positive momentum in space exploration pipeline

BRAMPTON, ON, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ – MDA, a Maxar Technologies company (NYSE: MAXR) (TSX: MAXR), announced today that it was selected by Airbus to provide a conceptual design of a rover mobility system and sample acquisition system planned to explore Mars and acquire samples that will be returned to Earth. The rover, a small vehicle approximately 1 metre wide by 1.5 metres long, will be capable of withstanding the harsh atmosphere of Mars and its challenging terrain. The ‘Sample Fetch Rover’ is planned to be part of the mission concepts the European Space Agency (ESA) is exploring with NASA for an international Mars Sample Return campaign between 2020 and 2030. The new contract is one of a number of innovative programs MDA’s space systems is supporting.

“MDA’s unparalleled flight heritage and end-to-end system capabilities in robotic systems provides a solid foundation for new missions to explore planets, asteroids and other bodies in the solar system,” said Mike Greenley, group president of MDA. “As a global leader in technology and products for space, MDA pushes the boundaries in advancing spaceflight and exploration: from sensors and vision systems, to robotic arms and autonomous robotics to planetary science instruments.”

Under the Mars Sample Return campaign, three launches are planned to accomplish the tasks of landing on the red planet and finding, collecting, storing samples, and returning them to Earth. The first of the launches under the NASA’s Mars 2020 mission will explore the surface and rigorously document and store a set of samples in canisters to be retrieved later for flight to Earth. The second launch will send the Sample Return Lander mission to land a platform near the Mars 2020 site. From here, the rover will retrieve the stored samples.

Once the Sample Fetch Rover has collected the samples, it will return to the lander platform so they can be loaded into the Mars Ascent Vehicle. This vehicle will perform the first liftoff from Mars and carry the container into Mars orbit.

ESA’s Earth Return Orbiter will be the third launch in this campaign to Mars and it is timed to capture the basketball-size sample container orbiting Mars. The spacecraft will then return to Earth, where it will release the entry capsule, allowing extensive analyses of the samples in laboratories with varied scientific equipment too large to take to Mars.

The Mars 2020-2030 mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars. The mission also provides opportunities to gather knowledge and demonstrate technologies that address the challenges of future human expeditions to Mars.

The Mars Sample Fetch Rover would be an extension of MDA’s contributions to Mars exploration:

• ESA ExoMars Program, a two part astrobiology mission searching for evidence of life on Mars: The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, launched in March 2016, includes an MDA-built communication antenna subsystem; and the ExoMars rover, which is planned for launch in 2020—MDA is nearing completion of the rover’s critical locomotion system elements.
• NASA Mars Phoenix Mission, landed in 2008, included a LiDAR instrument built by MDA and Optech Inc.
• NASA Mars Science Laboratory Mission’s Curiosity rover has been exploring Mars’ surface since 2012 includes an MDA-developed scientific instrument called the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer.

MDA’s new contract with Airbus is one of the many successes MDA has achieved over the last year in the robotics business. MDA continues to apply its extensive heritage in space systems and robotics developed through over four decades of work on the ISS to endeavors on other recent programs and achievements in international space exploration: 

• Delivered refurbished Latching End Effector for use on the International Space Station;
• Selected to provide a conceptual design of a lunar rover by the Canadian Space Agency;
• Developed Laser Altimeter for the Canadian Space Agency’s contribution to NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) mission to Bennu, an asteroid in our solar system;
• Developing locomotion and localization and navigation camera elements for the ESA ExoMars Science Rover whose mission is to collect samples and analyse them in an onboard laboratory;
• Developing high Earth orbit qualified LiDAR sensors for the Luna Resource-1 Lander.

MDA’s commercial space mindset is enabling deployment of new technologies and tools for the development of innovative solutions that build a better world.

The view expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency.

About MDA

MDA is an internationally recognized leader in space robotics, space sensors, satellite payloads, antennas and subsystems, surveillance and intelligence systems, defence and maritime systems, and geospatial radar imagery. MDA’s extensive space expertise and heritage translates into mission-critical defence and commercial applications that include multi-platform command, control and surveillance systems, aeronautical information systems, land administration systems and terrestrial robotics. MDA is also a leading supplier of actionable mission-critical information and insights derived from multiple data sources. Founded in 1969, MDA is recognized as one of Canada’s most successful technology ventures with locations in Richmond, Ottawa, Brampton, Montreal, Halifax and the United Kingdom. MDA is a Maxar Technologies company (TSX: MAXR; NYSE: MAXR). For more information, visit www.mdacorporation.com.

About Maxar Technologies

As a global leader of advanced space technology solutions, Maxar Technologies (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates) is at the nexus of the new space economy, developing and sustaining the infrastructure and delivering the information, services, systems that unlock the promise of space for commercial and government markets. As a trusted partner, Maxar Technologies 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. With more than 6,500 employees in over 30 global locations, the Maxar Technologies portfolio of commercial space brands includes MDA, SSL, DigitalGlobe and Radiant Solutions. 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 Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange as MAXR. For more information, visit www.maxar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements and other information included in this release constitute “forward-looking information” or “forward-looking statements” (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) under applicable securities laws. Statements including words such as “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “plan”, “potential”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate” or “expect” and other words, terms and phrases of similar meaning are often intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, expectations, projections, goals, forecasts, assumptions, risks and uncertainties, as well as other statements referring to or including forward-looking information included in this release.

Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed in this release. As a result, although management of the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. The risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the risk factors and other disclosures about the Company and its business included in the Company’s continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with Canadian and U.S. securities regulatory authorities, which are available online under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com, under the Company’s EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov or on the Company’s website at  www.maxar.com.

The forward-looking statements contained in this release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. All such forward-looking statements are based upon data available as of the date of this release or other specified date and speak only as of such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release as a result of new information or future events, except as may be required under applicable securities legislation.

Contact

Wendy Keyzer | MDA Media Contact | 1-604-231-2743 | [email protected]

Jason Gursky | Maxar Investor Relations | 1-303-684-2207 | [email protected]

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SOURCE Maxar Technologies Ltd.