Maxar Technologies, Kim Jong Un, Space Growth and Debt Reduction
Maxar Technologies has seen some wild swings as of late. The pure-play space business traded at $4.97 around a year ago, it would rise to $19 before falling to $10 post COVID-19 corrections.
The aerospace firm has been taking a lot of measures to reduce its balance sheet and reduced more $900 million in debt by selling real estate in Palo Alto and divesting divisions.
It recently sold MDA, a space technology developer, and producer, to Northern Private Capital. That move will net more than $700 million for Maxar Technologies.
There’s a lot going on with the space technology firm, and I think it is an exciting firm because it is another one adding fuel to the new Space Race. It is one firm that can become more resilient if it cleans up its balance sheet and continues to grow its strong relationships delivering data with services like Maxar maps to over 50 governments and private sector entities.
What is Maxar Technologies?
Maxar Technologies is a colorado entity that engages in “comms, earth observation, radar, and on-orbit servicing satellites, satellite products, and related services”. It has been around since 1969 and has revenues in excess of $2 billion.
It is focusing on new initiatives to stay lean and mean in this new space climate so that it can innovate and stay relevant. That is why it is shedding divisions like MDA and honing in on what matters the most, earth intelligence and space infrastructure.
Maxar, Kim Jong Un and Earth Intelligence
Maxar notes on its site that earth intelligence is “accurate and timely information about our changing planet.”
What does that mean?
Maxar can provide organizations such as 38 North with images that may point to the movements of people like Kim Jong Un. That sort of data is necessary and intriguing with massive speculation going about his death. Information about his death carries value for different entities and helps them to position themselves accordingly.
But Earth intelligence matters for a slew of organizations and accounts for at least 30% of its revenues.
Let’s look at what Maxar provides and why it matters.
Aggregate Data, Analyze it and Use It
Great organizations understand what is going on today and plan for how that could affect tomorrow. A portion of this data gathering process is made possible with MAXAR’s Earth Intelligence and it allows organizations to have a birds eye of new dynamics in different environments.
There’s significant data you can glean by looking at the right real time images of coordinates on Earth. Tesla bankruptcy callers can look at the Gigafactory and movement of goods. Of course, logistics organizations like Uber, Amazon, and other new applications can rely on earth intelligence to conduct precise operations and deliver great customer experiences.
The value here is that Maxar will be able to provide the data your organization might need and can conduct the right analysis with “applied artificial intelligence, machine learning and rich domain knowledge”.
Which leads them to providing insight as a service. Insight is essential because you can have all the data you want and not know what to do with it. That’s why domain knowledge and translation of data with its insight as a service will play critical roles for client organizations.
The MAXAR Earth intelligence component includes:
- Accessing conflated multisource data
- Creation of Maps
- Utilizing geospatial experts and artificial intelligence to derive insights
The right tools and information like Maxar maps can help to prevent damage to the environment, pinpoint areas of environmental concern, and present potential opportunities. These insights help in city planning and even with planning for safe and secure autonomous driving.
Maxar technologies shows that there is much more to space and that these companies are essential to growth and productivity. Watch out for more news on Maxar and other space companies.