Westminster, Colo. – Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) (TSX:MAXR), a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure, today announced that it has delivered the robotic Sample Handling Assembly (SHA) for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover. As the Mars 2020 rover explores the red planet, the SHA will process and store samples acquired from the Martian surface. The SHA is the sixth robotic arm that Maxar has designed, built and delivered for use on Mars.
As part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, the Mars 2020 rover will attempt to answer critical questions about the potential for life on Mars. Maxar’s expert roboticists will now work closely with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to integrate the arm with the Mars 2020 rover. After its planned launch in July 2020, the rover will land at Jezero Crater to search for signs of livable conditions and microbial life from the ancient past.
The Mars 2020 rover will use its drill to collect core samples of the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a cache on the surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth. As part of the Adaptive Caching Assembly, the Maxar-built SHA will manipulate, assess, encapsulate, store and release collected Martian soil and rock samples.
“Maxar is a global leader in space infrastructure with over 60 years of experience,” said Megan Fitzgerald, Maxar’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Space Infrastructure. “We are proud to contribute our innovative technology to the Mars 2020 mission. In addition to delivering robotic arms for planetary exploration, Maxar is pioneering robotics technologies that will enable space infrastructure to be serviced, assembled and manufactured in orbit.”
Maxar is also providing a camera focus system for Mars 2020’s SHERLOC instrument and WATSON imager. SHERLOC and WATSON will be used to study the surface of Mars and support the selection of rock and soil samples. Maxar provided robotic arms for previous NASA Mars missions – the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers, and Phoenix and InSight landers.
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
Maxar is a trusted partner and innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. We deliver disruptive value to government and commercial customers to help them monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. Our unique approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with unrivaled speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Maxar’s 5,900 team members in 30 global locations are inspired to harness the potential of space to help our customers create a better world. Maxar trades on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto 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 presentation.
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 presentation. 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 U.S. securities and Canadian regulatory authorities, which are available online under the Company’s EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov, under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com 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 presentation 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 presentation as a result of new information or future events, except as may be required under applicable securities legislation.
