Maxar will begin deploying its non-Earth imaging (NEI) capability in 2023 with a select group of early adopters who need to understand and characterize space objects at scale. Maxar’s NEI capability fosters greater space resiliency and situational awareness for operators.
Specific solutions that Maxar NEI can address include:
Photo of the International Space Station taken by WorldView-3, September 2022
Space is increasingly becoming crowded. According to the U.S. Department of Defense's global Space Surveillance Network (SSN) more than 15,000 pieces of space debris larger than 4 inches have been tracked. It is also estimated that there are around 200,000 pieces sized between 0.4 and 4 inches, and millions of pieces smaller than 1cm. According to NASA, much more debris — too small to be tracked, but large enough to threaten human spaceflight and robotic missions — exists in the near-Earth space environment. Since both the debris and spacecraft are traveling at extremely high speeds (approximately 15,700 mph in low Earth orbit), an impact of even a tiny piece of orbital debris with a spacecraft could create big problems.
In 2016, Maxar's WorldView-2 imaging satellite was hit by a non-tracked piece of space debris. After the debris incident, the company used one of its other satellites to image WorldView-2 and determine that the damage was minimal. Maxar is proud to offer the same solution to the growing number of commercial and government customers that will benefit from the additional data for satellite operations and resiliency.
As more satellites and mega constellations come online, understanding where and how space debris and space operations may be impacted by the growing number of objects on orbit is crucial for mission success.
Find out how Maxar NEI solutions can help you.
Contact your Maxar Solutions Specialist or contact us at NEI@maxar.com.