Ireland Degges
Maxar Technologies has rebranded its portfolio of spacecraft platforms to better represent the company’s variety of manufacturing capabilities and commitment to serving public and private sector space missions.
Comprising the Maxar 300, Maxar 500 and Maxar 1300 series buses, the organization’s lineup offers flexibility across an array of missions, from proliferated low Earth orbit constellations to multi-orbit systems, Maxar announced from its Westminster, Colorado headquarters on Monday.
“Customers can come to us with a wide array of critical missions, and our spacecraft family offers the right platforms to fit their needs,” said Chris Johnson, senior vice president and general manager for space at Maxar.
“These products are rooted in Maxar’s deep legacy of manufacturing flexible, reliable spacecraft, and our investments ensure they are relevant now and well into the future,” he added.
Designed for high-rate production, rapid constellation deployment and mission-level reliability, the Maxar 300 series represents the organization’s proliferated LEO platform. This platform, which stands as Maxar’s smallest and most modular bus, was chosen by L3Harris Technologies as the bus for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking constellation.
The Maxar 500 series is a scalable mid-size platform built for stability and pointing precision. To ensure flexibility across different missions and orbits, Maxar utilized the investments and technologies on its WorldView Legion program when developing this bus.
For its reliability and customizable nature, the Maxar 1300 series is a popular choice among customers. Currently, more than 90 of these spacecraft are in orbit, primarily serving higher-power missions.
Since its initial release, Maxar has upgraded the Maxar 1300 series platform to increase opportunities for its application beyond just geostationary satellites. This spacecraft serves as the foundation for NASA’s Gateway Power and Propulsion Element.
Maxar recently launched two Maxar 1300 series spacecraft to support Intelsat’s transfer of its services as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to reallocate portions of C-band spectrum for 5G network services.
