SSL’s Rob Zitz: Agencies to Leverage Small Satellites for Large Spacecraft Capability Enhancement

Rob Zitz, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for government systems at Maxar Technologies’ SSL subsidiary, has said he believes intelligence and defense agencies will look to small satellites in the next few years to build up the capabilities of large spacecraft owned and run by the government, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

“We see growth in terms of contracts and in terms of studies we believe will lead to very large contracts for these smaller satellites,” Zitz told the publication at the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah.

He noted that agencies may potentially acquire small satellites whose mass ranges from 100 to 700 kilograms to carry larger payloads in support of government satellite constellations.

The report said SSL has established at its San Jose, Calif.-based facility a new division focused on small satellites.