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U.S. Satellite Operators Urge Commerce Department to Revise Proposed Commercial Remote Sensing Regulations

07/29/2019

Proposed regulations would be a step backward for U.S. industry, giving foreign firms a competitive advantage

WESTMINSTER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- U.S. satellite operators Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) (TSX:MAXR), Planet LabsHawkEye 360BlackSky Global and Spire Global today urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to revise its proposed commercial remote sensing regulations, which as drafted would put U.S. firms at a significant disadvantage in the global marketplace.

Maxar, Planet, HawkEye 360, BlackSky Global and Spire Global recently submitted a joint response to the Commerce Department’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking objecting to the newly proposed rules. While U.S. satellite operators appreciate the Department’s recognition of the risk to American leadership in space that comes from overly burdensome regulation, the proposed regulations would undermine U.S. competitiveness, impair U.S. innovation and deter investment in the U.S. commercial space industry. Commenters urged the Commerce Department to significantly revise the proposed regulations to take a more narrowly tailored approach to ensure the pressing need for continued U.S. leadership in commercial space is more appropriately balanced with other regulatory interests.

The U.S. commercial space industry provides critical products and services that support disaster and humanitarian crisis response, national and global security interests and enhance the location-enabled services that billions of people around the world use every day. Addressing the lack of transparency, operational uncertainty and institutionalized delays that impair the ability of the U.S. industry to bring innovative products and services to market should be the primary focus of the Commerce Department’s efforts. For example, license requests to bring new commercial satellite imagery capabilities to market can take years to approve, operators have little visibility into the decision-making process and operating licenses are subject to retroactive modifications after investment has already been made and systems are operating. By failing to address these issues, the proposed regulations put at risk continued U.S. leadership in the global commercial space industry, including the satellite imagery market, which is alone projected to reach $3 billion by 2020.

“The U.S. commercial space industry needs smart regulations that promote innovation, encourage competitiveness and bolster national security, and unfortunately the Commerce Department’s draft regulations fall far short of these goals,” said Dr. Walter Scott, Maxar CTO. “Maxar, Planet, HawkEye 360, BlackSky Global and Spire Global urge U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the National Space Council to intervene and ensure that new regulations allow American space firms to continue to lead in this dynamic global industry.”

“The draft regulations represent a three-decade step backward,” said Robbie Schingler, Planet’s Co-founder. “This is cold water thrown onto a thriving ecosystem with rapidly changing space architectures, many new entrants and novel business models. We strongly urge regulators to take a strategic view and create a forward-leaning environment that opens up near-Earth space to efficient, secure and trusted commercial enterprise. Building new industries bolsters American competitiveness and grows the economy, which fuels national security. Should this rule progress without significant modification, it will represent a direct threat to 21st century U.S. national security.”

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.

 

View source version on businesswire.comhttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190729005120/en/

Media Contact
Turner Brinton
Maxar Public Relations
1-303-684-4545
turner.brinton@maxar.com

Claire Bentley
Planet
1-303-501-6705
claire.bentley@planet.com

Investor Relations Contact
Jason Gursky
Maxar VP Investor Relations
1-303-684-2207
jason.gursky@maxar.com

Source: Maxar Technologies