Maxar Technologies Inc. - Annual Report: 2021 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-K

Commission file number: 001-38228

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Maxar Technologies Inc.

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:

None

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒  No ☐

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☒ No ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company”, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

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At June 30, 2021, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock, par value of $0.0001 per share, held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $2,890 million (based upon the closing sale price of the common stock on June 30, 2021 on The New York Stock Exchange).

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As of February 16, 2022, there were 72,808,326 shares of the registrant’s common stock, par value of $0.0001 per share, outstanding.

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to its 2022 annual meeting of stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. The 2022 proxy statement will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.

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Maxar Technologies Inc.

Annual Report on Form 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements usually relate to future events and anticipated revenues, earnings, cash flows or other aspects of our operations or operating results. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “foresee,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “may,” “estimate,” “outlook” and similar expressions, including the negative thereof. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, beliefs and assumptions concerning future developments and business conditions and their potential effect on us. While management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we anticipate.

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All of our forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties (some of which are significant or beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections. Known material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements include those set forth in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any of our forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.

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Unless stated otherwise or the context otherwise requires, references to the terms “Company,” “Maxar,” “we,” “us,” and “our” to refer collectively to Maxar Technologies Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS

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Maxar is a provider of comprehensive space solutions and secure, precise, geospatial intelligence. Maxar helps government and commercial customers monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. Our approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Maxar’s stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under the symbol “MAXR.”

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Segments

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We serve our customers and organize our businesses through the following two operating and reportable segments:

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The following is a description of our reportable segments.

Earth Intelligence

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Overview

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In the Earth Intelligence segment, we are a global leader in high-resolution space-based Earth observation imagery products and analytics. We launched the world’s first high-resolution commercial imaging satellite in 1999 and currently operate a four-satellite imaging constellation, providing us with over two decades and approximately 137 petabytes of imagery over our history (referred to as our “Image Library”) of the highest resolution, commercially available imagery. Our imagery solutions provide customers with timely, accurate and mission-critical information about our changing planet and support a wide variety of government and enterprise applications, including mission planning, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring, disaster management, crop management, oil and gas exploration and infrastructure management. We continue to innovate as demands for new satellite technology and advanced analytic tools increase. The U.S. government is the largest customer of our Earth Intelligence segment through the EnhancedView Follow On contract (“EnhancedView Contract”), Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery (“G-EGD”) and One World Terrain (“OWT”) programs and various classified and unclassified contract vehicles. In the commercial satellite Earth observation industry, we are a leader across U.S. government agencies, international government agencies and enterprise customer verticals.

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We also provide geospatial services that combine imagery, analytic expertise and innovative technology to deliver intelligence solutions to customers. Our approximately 1,700 cleared personnel support analytic solutions that accurately document change and enable geospatial modeling and analysis that help predict where events will occur. Our primary customer of geospatial services is the U.S. government, but we also support intelligence requirements for other U.S. allied governments, global development organizations and enterprise customers. Through our acquisition of Vricon, Inc. (“Vricon”) in 2020, we are also a global leader in satellite-derived 3D data for defense and intelligence markets, with software and products that enhance 3D mapping, Earth intelligence data, military simulation and training and precision-guided munitions. See Note 5, “Business Combination” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional detail on the Vricon acquisition.

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Our Offerings

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Customers can license our imagery and data archives or place custom orders to task our satellites for a specific area of interest. We process our imagery to varying levels according to our customers’ specifications and deliver our products using the distribution methods and subscription services that are designed to best suit our customers’ needs. We offer a number of Earth Intelligence solutions, including:

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Additionally, we support people, organizations and initiatives dedicated to improving the health and sustainability of our planet. Through our purpose partners, we contribute geospatial data and expertise to nonprofits that significantly benefit from using our data to achieve their missions. These purpose partners include the Amazon Conservation Team, Jane Goodall Institute, International Justice Mission, Team Rubicon and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. With our open data program, when crises occur, we support humanitarian organizations and communities with critical information to assist response efforts. The Maxar News Bureau is a partnership program with trusted media organizations around the world. We provide satellite imagery as visual evidence of ground truth to promote global transparency and expose injustice. Access to our high-resolution satellite imagery has enabled journalists to accurately report on areas that are too remote or dangerous to visit or are otherwise inaccessible.

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Our Constellation

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As of December 31, 2021, we operated a constellation of four in-orbit and fully commissioned satellites: GeoEye-1, WorldView-1, WorldView-2 and WorldView-3. Our annual collection capacity is approximately 1.4 billion square kilometers. We have collected, and have available for use, approximately 137 petabytes in our Image Library.

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We re-evaluate the depreciable lives of our satellites annually based on established methodologies used for accounting purposes. The lives we assign for depreciation purposes are typically shorter than the lives we use for planning purposes and our history shows that in most cases the estimated useful lives of our satellites have increased from the initial lives determined upon launch.

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The following table summarizes the primary characteristics of the in-orbit and fully-commissioned satellites in our constellation as of December 31, 2021:

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WorldView Legion will be a fleet of six high performing satellites for which our Space Infrastructure segment is acting as prime contractor. With a first launch planned in June to July of 2022, we expect that WorldView Legion, in addition to our current constellation, will revisit rapidly changing areas up to 15 times per day, an increase from four times per day currently, which will more than triple both our capacity to collect 30 cm class imagery and our overall capacity in high demand areas.

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Our satellites have advanced technical capabilities, such as maneuverability, size of collection area, collection speed, revisit time, resolution, accuracy and spectral diversity. Additionally, our satellites are designed, manufactured and operated in the U.S. for assurance of U.S. national security missions and data protection.

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We procure insurance to protect us from the risks associated with our satellite operations, including the partial or total loss of the functional capacity of the satellite. We insure satellites in our constellation to the extent that insurance is available at acceptable premiums. As of December 31, 2021, we maintained the following insurance coverage on our in-orbit and fully-commissioned satellite constellation:

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Additionally, as of December 31, 2021, we have procured insurance for our WorldView Legion satellite launches of $520 million. These policies cover the launches plus the first year in orbit. Following the first year in orbit, we will seek to obtain in-orbit coverage similar to the coverage we currently have on our in-orbit and fully-commissioned satellite constellation noted in the table above.

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Competitive Conditions and Trends in Industry Demands

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Our Earth Intelligence business operates in a highly competitive and rapidly growing industry. Our major existing and potential competitors for our Earth Intelligence business include commercial satellite imagery companies, state-owned imagery providers, aerial imagery companies, free sources of imagery, unmanned aerial vehicles and companies that provide geospatial analytic information and services to the U.S. government, including defense prime contractors.

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We compete on the basis of several factors, including: the technical capabilities of our satellites, such as size of collection area, collection speed, revisit time, resolution, accuracy and spectral diversity; satellite availability for tasked orders; the size, comprehensiveness and relevance of our Image Library; on-demand platforms and tools that enable customers to easily access and integrate imagery; value-added services, including harnessing advancements in ML by

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applying computer vision and pattern analysis technology to geospatial problems; and derivative products such as 3D models and map vector data.

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The Earth observation market includes the collection and processing of optical and non-optical imagery data of the Earth. Specifically, the market is segmented into Data, Value-Added Services (“VAS”), Information Products and Big Data Analytics. The Data segment consists of raw imagery transmitted from the satellite to the ground station and products, such as stereo imaging and basic corrections (radiometric and geometric). VAS includes processing through layering or data fusion (such as with traffic information and street names). Big Data Analytics includes statistical analysis, change detection and predictive modeling using large quantities of imagery and meta-data overlays to provide insights over a given period of time.

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Our Earth Intelligence business provides Earth observation services to customers in a variety of sectors, including defense and intelligence, energy and natural resources, industrials, social media, mapping, managed living resources (such as agriculture and forestry), public authorities, services (such as finance, insurance, news and media) and weather. Providers of imagery and data in this market generally compete on resolution, accuracy, revisit frequency, delivery (cloud versus traditional) and pricing.

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Euroconsult reports that the commercial market for Earth observation data was $1.6 billion in 2020 and is forecasted to top $2.5 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 4%. According to Euroconsult, defense represents approximately 70% of the Earth observation data, and sales to non-U.S. defense markets are forecasted to be the most significant driver of revenue growth, driven by higher revisit constellations with higher resolutions. Euroconsult reports the commercial market for Earth observation VAS was $2.5 billion in 2020 and is forecasted to top $5 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 7%. We believe it is increasingly likely that value for the Earth observation services will be driven by downstream services and AI-enabled data analytics.

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In addition to the demands for commercial Earth observation data and VAS, we believe our Earth Intelligence offerings address a number of multi-billion dollar military use-cases and sectors, including 3D mapping, precision guided munitions and military simulation and virtual training. Additionally, as we further develop our 3D offerings, we see additional commercial market opportunities for our data and services, particularly within the immersive 3D environments of the augmented reality (“AR”)/virtual reality (“VR”) accessed metaverse. As consumers spend more time in virtual or AR environments for education, gaming, entertainment, news, networking, shopping and more, our global 3D models can help bridge the physical and digital worlds with increased accuracy and realism.

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Space Infrastructure

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Overview

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In the Space Infrastructure segment, we provide solutions for communications, Earth observation, remote sensing, on-orbit servicing, robotic assembly and space exploration. We address a broad spectrum of needs for our customers, including mission systems engineering, product design, spacecraft manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing. Our principal customers in the Space Infrastructure segment are commercial satellite operators and government agencies worldwide. Our approach combines proven success gained over six decades in the industry with the nimbleness and agility of a smaller space company.

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Our Offerings

Our products, which are designed and manufactured in the U.S., include:

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Spacecraft

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Today, more than 287 custom Maxar-built spacecraft, including 81 low Earth orbit (“LEO”) satellites, have launched with a combined 2,850 years of service, the majority of the spacecraft are highly complex Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (“GEO”) satellites for global communications customers.

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Maxar continues as a world leader in commercial GEO communication satellites and a global leader in commercial satellite manufacturing. With three decades of on-orbit heritage, our 1300 spacecraft platform is the world’s most popular GEO satellite; 90 spacecraft are currently in service, providing 99.9993% uptime availability for our customers. We continue to provide a high level of value and partnership to communications customers around the globe. Key platform features include a scalable, lightweight and high-strength structure, fuel-efficient attitude and station-keeping subsystems, high-efficiency and reliable solar arrays and batteries and advanced command and control subsystems. A growing application for commercial geostationary communication satellites is the delivery of data-centric applications (such as consumer broadband, in-flight communication, maritime and 4G/5G cellular backhaul) via high-capacity spot beam satellites commonly referred to as high throughput satellites (or “HTS”). We introduced the first HTS satellite in 2005, which used the 1300 bus, and believe it offers the highest capability for the cost. Maxar is building JUPITER 3, a transformational Ultra High Density Satellite, for Hughes Network Systems (“Hughes”) to be designated EchoStar XXIV. This satellite is expected to be the world’s largest commercial communications satellite when it launches, and will power future generations of Hughes consumer, enterprise and aeronautical services across the Americas.

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In addition to continued leadership in the commercial communications sector, we collaborate closely with customers to design and deliver smaller satellites to address growing demand for LEO and medium Earth orbit (“MEO”) constellations. We believe Maxar’s LEO capabilities will be effective for applications that require a multiple satellite constellation of identical satellites produced in a cost-efficient manner.

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The 1300 platform is key to our continued and growing partnership with NASA as well. The Psyche mission is a journey to a unique metal asteroid, named 16 Psyche, that appears to be the exposed metal core of an early planet–a building block of a solar system. The spacecraft bus leverages the 1300 platform and solar electric propulsion system, the highly efficient SPT-140. In addition, Maxar is hosting NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (“TEMPO”)— a commercially hosted pollution monitoring payload on a commercial communications satellite Maxar is building for satellite operator Intelsat. By hosting payloads on its commercial satellites, Maxar can help government agencies obtain access to space for instruments, sensors and other small missions without the cost of building a dedicated spacecraft. Similarly, the hosted payload helps commercial customers share the cost of the satellite bus, launch and operations.

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Competitive Conditions and Trends in Industry Demands

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Our principal customers in the Space Infrastructure segment are commercial satellite operators and government agencies worldwide.

We sell our products and technologies in a highly competitive industry and we compete on the basis of cost, reliability, design life and technological capabilities and efficiencies. Our primary competitors for satellite manufacturing contracts are: The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation in the United States; Thales S.A. and Airbus Defence and Space, a subsidiary of the Airbus Group, in Europe; and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in Japan. Additionally, we face competition from newer entrants. In addition, many of our competitors are

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larger and have greater resources than we do. We may also face competition in the future from emerging low-cost competitors in India, Russia and China.

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GEO satellites track with the rotation of the Earth and remain over a fixed point over the Earth’s surface. GEO satellites cover more area from a higher vantage point to tend to carry more advanced sensor or communication suites, as used in broad area communications and global-scale weather payloads. Due to this unique property of their orbit, GEO orbit slots are limited, which motivates operators to maximize the use of their slot, leading to generally larger satellites to support the required power and bandwidth, as well as a longer design life to maximize return on investment. Due to their greater distance from earth; however, there is increased latency.

The satellite industry has undergone a significant change with the proliferation of LEO satellites, which have been primarily used for both Earth observation and communications payloads. Typically, LEO constellation satellites are cheaper to launch as they are significantly smaller and require less fuel to reach orbit. Additionally, due to the lower orbital altitude, LEO observation satellites enable higher resolution imagery. This factor also enables LEO communication satellites to reduce latency but require a much larger constellation to ensure coverage over a given area as unlike GEO satellites, LEO satellites move in and out of view of ground locations as they complete their orbit. In addition to altitude class, satellites are classified by functions, such as communications or Earth observation.

Euroconsult projects satellite demand will experience a four and half-fold increase over the next ten years. While LEO and MEO are expected to account for the majority of the demand, Euroconsult expects an average of 13 GEO commercial satellite orders per year over the next ten years, representing one-third of the total market value. According to Euroconsult, the total market for manufacturing and launch services is expected to reach $320 billion over the next decade, a 39% increase from the previous decade of $230 billion in revenue.

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LEO proliferation is expected to greatly increase access to space, thus enabling new commercial customers across diversified industries including oil & gas, insurance, agriculture and asset management firms, as well as nonprofit organizations, to benefit from satellite imagery.

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Discontinued Operations

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On April 8, 2020, we completed the sale of our former Canadian subsidiary (“MDA Business”) to Neptune Acquisition Inc., a corporation existing under the laws of the Province of British Columbia and an affiliate of Northern Private Capital Ltd. See Note 4, “Discontinued Operations”, to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information regarding our sale of the MDA Business.

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Industry Overview

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Large and Growing Addressable Market

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We believe that there is potential for growth among three key components of our addressable market: the U.S. government, other governments and commercial customers. For both the U.S. and other governments, drivers of growth include persistent global security threats, defense budgets, demand for high-quality imagery and value-added services and a focus on space as an investment. We believe that the U.S. government is interested in expanding the use of commercial alternatives to owned assets and that other governments present an opportunity for growth. We seek to align our products and services with the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”)’s National Defense Strategy needs, as well as growing international defense and intelligence demand. For civil customers, in particular NASA, growth is being driven by space exploration programs such as Artemis and Earth science projects. For commercial customers, drivers of growth include strong demand for 3D imagery and more frequent imagery refreshes, as well as insights driven by AI and ML, space-based remote sensing, GEO replacement demand and LEO communications programs.

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Diverse Solutions for Diverse End-Market Users

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While traditionally spending in space has been dominated by military defense programs and the communications industry, the proliferation of technology and cheaper access to space has led to a diversification in end-market users.

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ML, AI and cloud computing have given rise to multiple use cases across industries, such as mobility and logistics, insurance, finance, ESG, non-governmental organizations and emerging technologies in simulation, gaming, AR/VR and the metaverse. Concurrently, geopolitical competition in space as a contested domain is leading to further investment by global militaries. We have evolved with this changing environment to serve a multitude of customers.

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Government Investment in Space Programs

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With more than half of our revenues coming from U.S. government customers, we expect that our Space Infrastructure and Earth Intelligence segments will benefit from growing defense and space infrastructure budgets. We expect the proliferation of space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and communications to drive increased government investments in the sector through the mid-2020s.

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Global

Euroconsult reports that government space budgets reached $92.5 billion in 2021, an 8% increase over 2020 figures. Additionally, Euroconsult reports the gap between civil and defense space budgets is decreasing, with civil budgets totaling $53.5 billion and defense space programs totaling $38.9 billion in 2021. Euroconsult expects world defense spending to average over 2.5% growth per year until 2030, driven by increasing government defense budgets, an emphasis on space security and a generalized trend of the militarization of space.

United States

In the U.S., there is a concerted effort by the government to accelerate space investment. According to the Congressional Research Service, the President’s fiscal year (“FY”) 2022 budget requested $15.3 billion for the National Security Space (“NSS”) programs, representing growth of 13% from the aggregate funding for NSS programs of $13.5 billion for FY 2021. On December 20, 2019, with the enactment of the FY 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Space Force (“USSF”) was established. The mission of the USSF is to organize, train and equip space forces in order to protect the U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force.

The NSS budget generally excludes funding for the NRO and NGA. Specific funding levels for these organizations, which are long-term historical customers of our Earth Intelligence segment, are generally classified. However, the NRO and NGA are included in the funding for the National Intelligence Program (“NIP”). The aggregate funding for the NIP was $60.2 billion in FY 2019, $62.7 billion in FY 2020 and $60.8 billion in FY 2021. The NIP funding request for FY 2022 is $62.3 billion. Additionally, the aggregate funding for the Military Intelligence Program (“MIP”) was $21.5 billion in FY 2019, $23.1 billion in FY 2020 and $23.3 billion in FY 2021. The MIP funding request for FY 2022 is $23.3 billion.

Furthermore, NASA requested $24.8 billion in FY 2022, an increase of 7% from FY 2021. The NASA budget further highlights an effort by the government to invest in space exploration and development, with $8.3 billion of the total allocated for deep space exploration systems and space technology. These include the key components of OSAM-1 and the Artemis program that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond, including the Lunar Gateway.

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Growth Strategy

Our vision is to hold leading positions in each of the sectors we serve. We aim to achieve this by applying innovative technologies and capabilities that provide value to our customers across their entire value chain, including components, subsystems, systems, data and services. Specific elements of our strategy across our two segments include:

Earth Intelligence

Driving revenue growth through improvements in our products— we seek to improve and develop new Earth intelligence products with WorldView Legion by productizing technologies and derivative content developed in support of individual customer contracts, such as using more artificial intelligence and machine learning to extract features, detect objects and detect change in our satellite imagery and complementary content. We believe we provide imagery

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with better than three times the accuracy of the nearest small-sat competitor and we believe that our accuracy advantage is even greater in areas where we have leveraged our 3D and elevation capabilities. We believe we will be able to provide even greater quality imagery and with higher revisit rates upon deployment of our WorldView Legion constellation. The revisit rate and increase in capacity enables a clearer understanding of on ground conditions, allowing for more real time, actionable analysis to deliver insights on rapidly changing environments and populations, while providing for more frequent monitoring for defense and intelligence applications, enhanced emergency responsiveness and maritime surveillance, among other applications. We have developed technology used to enhance the quality and usability of imagery (e.g. eliminate atmospheric distortions, increase positional accuracy, improved interpretability, etc.), create information derivatives (e.g. road vectors, material types, land classification, etc.), fuse multiple types of content (e.g. Internet of Things, optical imagery, synthetic aperture radar imagery, radio frequency information, vectors, social media, etc.), to detect change, understand patterns of life and gain early warning of trending events. We believe this type of high resolution, highly accurate collection capacity will power wide-area, artificial intelligence and machine learning modeling, sensor-to-shooter applications and a reference globe for AR/VR metaverse applications. Additionally, we believe our resolution and accuracy are key enablers for deriving highly accurate and lifelike 3D models, which will allow customers to transition from 2D to 3D capabilities that address critical missions such as GPS-denied navigation, digital twin simulations, synthetic and real-world training environments, autonomous vehicle routing and telco network planning. We believe that creating standard products using this technology will grow our product-based revenue with customers in the technology, defense and intelligence, civil government and global development organization sectors.

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Expanding our relationship with the U.S. government—the U.S. government is the largest customer of our Earth Intelligence segment through the EnhancedView Contract, G-EGD and OWT programs and various classified and unclassified contract vehicles. Demand for geospatial intelligence and services continues to grow given the geopolitical environment and the confluence of high-performance computing and machine learning algorithms that allow for insights to be extracted from ever greater levels of data being produced by Earth observation sensors and national and commercial satellite assets. The U.S. government has expressed interest in increasingly relying on commercial partners to harness the rapid pace of commercial innovation more effectively, including the continued use of geospatial data given cost affordability and advances in technology that provide high quality imagery. We seek to grow our business with the U.S. government by leveraging the investments we have made across our capability set, including in ML and AI and our strong record of historic performance.

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Growing our installed base and penetration of international defense and intelligence customers—we currently provide service to U.S.-allied nations through our DAP, RAP, SecureWatch, Precision 3D products. These customers use our imagery in their civil and intelligence related missions. Our imagery and services are either complementary to national assets owned by these countries, or in some cases defer the need for a country to invest in owned and operated national assets. We believe there are many prospective customers that have both the mission need and budget for our services which we seek to add to our installed base. We also seek to further penetrate existing customers through the provision of additional data and services. Lastly, we believe there are opportunities to provide our services to U.S. allied nations who might seek a complement to national capabilities in geospatial analytics. Our strategy focuses on those countries that currently have deep and longstanding relationships with our Earth Intelligence segment and other close U.S. allies.

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Growing with and expanding our installed base among enterprise customers—we have over 400 enterprise customers that use our data in their products and applications across a variety of industries including technology, telecom, transportation, mining, mapping, social media and oil and gas. The confluence of high-performance computing and ML algorithms are allowing for insights to be extracted from ever greater quantities of imagery and meta data, which in turn is driving innovation across our customer base. We expect this trend to continue, and we seek to grow with our existing customers as well as to grow our install-base in new industry verticals by leveraging our sector leading imagery capabilities. Furthermore, we believe our capabilities in ML, AI and Big Data Analytics products will position us to sell additional solutions and services to our commercial customers.

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Providing products that leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence— AI and ML enable us to extract greater insight from our geospatial data to deliver actionable intelligence to our customers. We have continued to refine and improve our approach to AI and ML, which benefit from our large volumes of historical training data and high quality

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imagery. Productization of this capability will enable delivery of higher value, enriched geospatial data that we expect will facilitate deeper penetration of the U.S. government, international governments and commercial markets.

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Delivering 3D products to global defense, intelligence and commercial customers – through Maxar’s acquisition of Vricon, we are expanding the demand for global scale 3D products. 3D products allow decision makers to understand their operational environment in 3D – developing new insights that enable them to make better, faster decisions. We see a growing opportunity to sell 3D data and software products to the military and intelligence community to support virtual training environments and provide better information to the warfighter. U.S. and allied defense and intelligence customers are seeking solutions to support intelligence fusion, maneuver and other mission requirements. We also see significant opportunity with our commercial customers as they look for more accurate 3D geodata to deliver their products through new mediums like AR and VR. Additionally, we have entered into license arrangements related to certain consumer applications. The current investment in 5G networks and Internet of Things provides a unique opportunity to deliver network operators a better data solution to improve their future networks. Additional use cases continue to grow as 3D products and precision data sets become better understood.

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Space Infrastructure

Driving revenue through improvement in our products and manufacturing and program capabilities— we are developing differentiated capabilities that are designed for future space exploration, including propulsion, power and robotics. We believe these elements will be critical to helping our customers operate in an increasingly contested space environment and in achieving successful space exploration missions. We are also developing our satellite architectures and manufacturing capabilities as we strive to assure that we can successfully fulfill both government and commercial customer requirements on future programs, including high volume / low mix and variable volume / high mix programs. We plan to team with providers of digital payload technology to enhance our offering if our customers express interest in it. We are also developing relationships across the supply chain to assure that we can seamlessly provide a broad-breadth of mission sets to our customers. Finally, we are working to transform our operations (e.g. location strategy, workforce shaping, technology and systems investment and CAS / FAR compliance) so that we can address a larger set of opportunities across our government and commercial customers.

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Growing our U.S. and international civil exposure—we have a long history with civil space programs dating back to the Apollo missions. Current NASA programs include the Power Propulsion Element for the Lunar Gateway, OSAM-1, Psyche and TEMPO. We have also built robotic arms on six of NASA’s Mars rovers and landers. We seek to leverage our investments and expertise in propulsion, power and robotics, as well as our strong legacy of performance, when pursuing further civil work in the U.S. and abroad.

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Deepening our penetration of U.S. national programs—to date, we have won several classified and unclassified study contracts with U.S. defense and intelligence customers. We seek to further penetrate these markets by utilizing our flexible satellite architectures, design and engineering capabilities and commercial business practices—all of which we believe can create compelling value propositions.

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Providing flexible platforms to our commercial customers—we currently provide components, subsystems and system architectures to our customers for communications and Earth observation satellites in LEO, MEO and GEO orbits. In communications, we offer flexible platforms across various architecture platforms and mission payloads from standard analog to high throughput, and we are investing in digital solutions. In Earth observation, we also offer flexible solutions across various architecture platforms and mission payloads, including electro-optic. Our goal is to be positioned well to compete for future single satellite or full constellation build orders from our customers, across a wide range of the architectures, payloads or Earth orbit chosen to fulfill mission requirements.

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Government Contracts and Compliance with Government Regulations

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Our operations are heavily regulated under various federal, state, local and international laws. Our operations in the U.S. government market are subject to significant government regulation. We contract with numerous U.S. government agencies and entities, including branches of the U.S. military and NASA. We must comply with, and are affected by, laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of U.S. government and other

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governments’ contracts, including foreign governments. Compliance with legislation or regulations promulgated by these authorities could result in material adverse effects on our capital expenditures, earnings and competitive position. In addition, noncompliance with legislation or regulations promulgated by these authorities could result in limitations on, or the suspension or revocation of, our licenses or registrations, the termination or loss of contracts or the imposition of contractual damages, civil fines or criminal penalties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, any government policy changes, which may be substantial, could increase regulatory uncertainty. The adoption or modification of laws or regulations relating to our business could limit or otherwise adversely affect the manner in which we currently conduct our business. In addition, the manner in which regulations or legislation in these areas may be interpreted and enforced cannot be precisely determined, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additional information about the government regulations affecting our business and the risks relating to government contracts and regulations appears in "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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U.S. Government Contracts

All of our reportable segments have contracts with various governmental entities, which are concentrated in a small number of primary contracts. The U.S. government may terminate or suspend our contracts, including the EnhancedView Contract with the U.S. government in our Earth Intelligence segment, at any time with or without cause. The EnhancedView Contract includes three option years that commenced on September 1, 2020. The second option year was exercised on July 15, 2021 for a one-year term ending on August 31, 2022. The final option year, if exercised by the U.S. government, has a term from September 1, 2022 through July 12, 2023. In November 2021, the NRO announced the release of the EOCL RFP, which is expected to replace the existing EnhancedView Contract. In December 2021, we submitted our response to the EOCL RFP and anticipate the NRO to award EOCL contracts prior to the expiration of the EnhancedView Contract, including remaining option years. Any changes in the size, scope or term of the EnhancedView Contract, or any award we receive for the EOCL, could impact our satellite replenishment strategy and our ability to repay or refinance our long-term debt. Although our U.S. government contracts generally involve fixed annual minimum commitments, such commitments, along with all other contracts with the U.S. government, are subject to annual Congressional appropriations and the federal budget process and as a result, the U.S. government may not continue to fund these contracts at current or anticipated levels. The loss or reduction in scope of any one of our primary U.S. government contracts would materially reduce our revenue and adversely impact our operating results and competitive position.

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Foreign Operations

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Our international contracts may include industrial cooperation agreements requiring specific in-country purchases, investments, manufacturing agreements or other financial obligations, known as offset obligations, and provide for penalties in the event we fail to meet such requirements.

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Environmental Regulations

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Our operations are regulated under various federal, state, local and international laws governing the environment, including laws governing the discharge of pollutants into the soil, air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and the cleanup of contaminated sites. We have infrastructure in place to ensure that our operations are in compliance with all applicable environmental regulations. We do not believe that the costs of compliance with these laws and regulations will have a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, operating results or competitive position. The imposition of more stringent standards or requirements under environmental laws or regulations or a determination that we are responsible for the release of hazardous substances at our sites could result in expenditures in excess of amounts currently estimated to be required for such matters. We have been designated, along with numerous other companies, as a potentially responsible party for the clean-up of several hazardous waste sites. Based on available information, we do not believe that any costs incurred in connection with such sites will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, capital expenditures or competitive position.

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There can be no assurance that additional environmental matters will not arise in the future, or that costs will not be incurred with respect to sites at which no problem is currently known.

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Resources

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Intellectual Property

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We own a substantial intellectual property portfolio that includes many U.S. and foreign patents, as well as many U.S. and international trademarks, service marks, domain names and copyrights. We actively pursue internal development of intellectual property. In addition to our patent portfolio, we own other intellectual property such as unpatented trade secrets, know-how, data and software. Additionally, we rely on licenses of certain intellectual property to conduct our business operations, including certain proprietary rights to and from third parties. While our intellectual property rights in the aggregate are important to our operations, we do not believe that any particular trade secret, patent, trademark, copyright, license or other intellectual property right is of such importance that its loss, expiration or termination would have a material effect on our business.

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Raw Materials

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Our businesses are generally engaged in limited manufacturing activities and have minimal near-term exposure to fluctuations in the supply of raw materials. For those businesses that manufacture and sell products and systems, most of the value that we provide is labor oriented, such as design, engineering, assembly and test activities. In manufacturing our products, we use our own production capabilities as well as third-party suppliers and subcontractors. Certain aspects of our manufacturing activities require relatively scarce raw materials or specialty component parts; occasionally, we have experienced difficulty in our ability to procure raw materials, components, sub-assemblies and other supplies required in our manufacturing processes. Recent supply shortages related to electronic chips is an example of some of the challenges we face with materials. As we have several firm fixed price contracts, we bear some risk to supply chain delivery issues and price increases.

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Research and Development

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We have a history of investing in development of technological advancements in our field of aerospace. We have both internally and externally funded research and development projects. Our current and future business is dependent on developing new enhancements and technology that go into our existing and future products and services. Our annual research and development expenses from continuing operations were $27 million in 2021, $15 million in 2020 and $10 million in 2019. We intend to continue our focus on research and development and product and service enhancements as a key strategy for innovation and growth. One of our current areas of focus is our development of the WorldView Legion program, a capital project, and other new offerings within our Earth Intelligence segment, including 3D technology. In our Space Infrastructure segment, we are also focused on the further development of components to be used in a variety of our products. Our efforts will continue to be directed into fields that we believe offer the greatest opportunities for long-term growth and profitability. 

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Human Capital

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We endeavor to cultivate a positive employee experience as we deliver on Maxar and customer missions by attracting, engaging and growing current and future Maxar team members; creating strong partnerships across the business;

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championing culture and fostering an inclusive and diverse environment; and impacting the broader community. We take great pride in our values:

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Behind the words are leaders, managers and team members who believe in our values and live by them. As of December 31, 2021, we employed 4,400 team members globally of which 96% are U.S. based and 4% are international. Within the U.S., no team members are unionized, while in Europe a small number of team members are represented by a trade union. Additionally, Maxar employs a highly technical workforce, with 77% of our employees working in engineering or operations functions and the remainder in our sales and general and administrative functions.

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Attracting Talent

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The success of Maxar’s business depends largely on our ability to attract, engage and grow a diverse population of talented technical and skilled team members at all levels. To succeed in highly competitive labor markets and for skill sets that are scarce in the market, we have developed talent acquisition, team member engagement and total rewards strategies, to achieve and maintain a competitive position.

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Total Rewards

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Our employee rewards programs are designed to provide an innovative, competitive, sustainable and scalable package that allows us to compete for and retain top talent in our industry and markets, aligned with Maxar’s business and strategic objectives.

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We strive to offer comprehensive benefits at a highly competitive cost-share to U.S. team members, including health insurance, direct round-the-clock access to doctors virtually and on-site, an array of targeted wellbeing programs, paid and unpaid leave, parental leave for all new parents for birth or adoption, retirement, life and disability programs, voluntary benefit options flexible to individual team member and family needs, tuition reimbursement, student loan forgiveness, adoption reimbursement, pet insurance and enhanced mental and emotional health support.

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In order to encourage our value “We Act Like Owners”, we offer an Employee Stock Purchase Plan with a discount for team members in countries where it is practical to offer the program. We also offer short- and long-term incentive programs to eligible team members.

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Outside of the U.S., we provide benefits, retirement and time-off in countries where we have a meaningful population of team members, designed based upon, among other things, market-specific practices and culture alignment.

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Engaging Talent

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We are driving a listening culture at Maxar through programs that regularly seek to engage team members in an ongoing dialogue through town-halls, surveys, quarterly check-ins and listening sessions. We focus on topics including Maxar strategy and business updates, understanding leadership effectiveness, communications clarity and other areas for improvements. In 2021, we devoted special attention to our continued response to the pandemic and how team members were faring. For both ongoing and targeted pulse surveys the results are shared with leaders and team members, and our executive team analyzes areas for future focus and prioritization in response to the feedback to drive meaningful improvement in team member engagement.

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In 2021, we launched a major leadership development initiative focused on upskilling leadership competencies tied to our Maxar leadership framework. Our outreach included a leader learning series focused on timely leadership topics, entry level manager development and a senior leadership and networking program, Catalyst.

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Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

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As a purpose-driven organization built on our values, our Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (“DIB”) strategy is to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging. We know that our greatest strength comes from our team members. When our team members feel like they belong and their opinions are respected, everyone can perform to their greatest potential. 

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We are committed to this journey and will stay curious and focused on cultivating an inclusive environment that promotes and values diversity, inclusion and belonging. Maxar, as a values-based company, makes this a priority, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes Maxar stronger. 

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The DIB strategy is a three-pronged approach that informs and guides us in this journey to:

We are committed to transparency along this journey and our 2021 data of our U.S. workforce is below:

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COVID-19 Response

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Team member health and safety is core to our successful operations across all areas of our business including manufacturing and satellite operations environments and our work at customer sites. We have taken significant actions over the past two years to address risk factors associated with COVID-19 and business continuity:

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Available Information

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Our website can be accessed at http://www.maxar.com. The website contains information about us and our operations. Through a link on the Investor Relations section of our website, copies of our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including any Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers and amendments to each of those reports and statements can be viewed and downloaded free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after the reports have been filed or furnished with the SEC. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference and is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Additionally, our reports, proxy and information statements and other information filed with the SEC are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Our reports, proxy and information statements and other information filed can also be found under our SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

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We operate in a changing global environment that involves numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The occurrence of any of the following risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, prospects, results of operations and cash flows. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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Risk Factors Summary

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Below is a summary of the principal risk factors that could adversely affect our business. This summary does not address all the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, and other risks, can be found after this summary in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Risks Related to Our Business

We are unable to predict the extent to which the global COVID-19 pandemic may adversely impact our business operations, financial performance, results of operations and stock price.

The COVID-19 outbreak, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has impacted nearly all regions of the world. Preventative measures taken to contain or mitigate the outbreak and their impact on the global supply chain have affected, and continue to affect, the global economy and the U.S. economy and have created periods of significant volatility in the global financial markets, the effects of which have adversely impacted our business and the businesses of our customers, including the U.S. and foreign governments and suppliers. 

Our supply chain is under stress inside and outside of the U.S., and we continue to monitor and assess the actual and potential COVID-19 or related force majeure impacts on the supply chain, our operations and customer commitments. There is a risk that these schedule delays could result in obligations for material liquidated damages owed to our customers. We have received some force majeure claims from suppliers related to COVID-19; however, at this time we do not expect the claims to result in a material financial impact. 

From time to time, we have experienced a variation in the consumption of access minutes by our customers as a result of COVID-19 and the preventative measures instituted by governments and businesses to mitigate its spread, which have resulted in periods of business slowdown. This impact could be more significant in the future, which could negatively impact revenue. In many instances, COVID-19 represents a force majeure event and as such, we have notified certain customers that we will be exercising our contractual legal rights, and in some instances we have made claims exercising such rights, given the uncertain nature of the current pandemic and its near and long-term impacts on the cost and schedule of the numerous programs in our existing backlog. Additionally, our customers may slow down their development of new projects or may experience financial difficulties impacting their ability to fund projects already in backlog. 

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Changes in our operations in response to COVID-19 and employee illnesses resulting from the pandemic have resulted in inefficiencies and delays of our projects, impacts to service level contracts, including in sales and product development efforts and additional costs related to business continuity initiatives, that cannot be fully mitigated through succession planning or employees working remotely. We have delayed transition of our employees back into Maxar worksites due to increases in COVID-19 cases in the broad population. Additionally, to provide for the health and safety of our workforce and business continuity, we have implemented a Vaccination Policy which requires that Maxar employees are vaccinated for COVID-19 unless they have an approved accommodation. As of January 4, 2022, 99% of our U.S. based employees were in compliance with this policy and have either been vaccinated or received an accommodation.

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We cannot predict the degree to which, or the time period that, global economic conditions, the global supply chain and our sales and operations will continue to be affected by COVID-19 and preventative measures imposed from time to time by governments and businesses to prevent its spread. The degree to which COVID-19 will continue to impact us will depend on numerous factors and future developments, including, but not limited to, the unknown duration of the pandemic, the impact of potential future resurgences and new virus variants and any actions that may be taken by governmental authorities to minimize the spread of the pandemic or to stimulate the economy. We also cannot predict the degree to which the disruption of global financial markets could have a negative impact on our ability to raise capital in the future. The long-term impacts of COVID-19 on government budgets and funding priorities that impact demand for our products and services are difficult to predict. 

Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may experience an impact to our business as a result of any economic downturn, recession or depression that has occurred or may occur in the future. The effects of these risks on our business, sales, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be material. 

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The future revenue and operating results of the Space Infrastructure segment are dependent on our ability to generate a sustainable order rate for the satellite and space manufacturing operations and develop new technologies to meet the needs of our customers or potential new customers.

The Space Infrastructure segment’s financial performance is dependent on its ability to generate a sustainable order rate for its satellite and space manufacturing operations. This can be challenging and may fluctuate on an annual basis as the number of satellite construction contracts awarded varies and in 2018 there was a substantial step down in the total number and dollar value of geostationary communication satellite contracts awarded compared to such historical averages prior to 2015. Many satellite operators in the communications industry have continued to defer new satellite construction awards to evaluate geostationary and other competing satellite system architectures and other market factors. If we are unable to win new awards or execute existing contracts as expected, our business, results of operations and financial position could be further adversely affected.

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The cyclical nature of the commercial satellite market could negatively impact our ability to accurately forecast customer demand. The markets that we serve may not grow in the future and we may not be able to maintain adequate gross margins or profits in these markets. Specifically, sales of the 1300 bus have historically been important to our results and there is no assurance that this market will continue to grow or demand levels will increase, nor is there assurance that the market for the smaller bus, which spans a range from 500kg to 1300kg, will offset any decreases in the market for the 1300 bus or provide future growth. Our growth is dependent on the growth in the sales of services provided by our customers, our customers’ ability to anticipate market trends and our ability to anticipate changes in the businesses of our customers and to successfully identify and enter new markets. If we fail to anticipate such changes in demand, our business, results of operations and financial position could be adversely affected.

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On January 1, 2019, we completed a reorganization of our corporate structure pursuant to which we directly acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Maxar Technologies Ltd. (“Maxar Canada”) and we replaced Maxar Canada as the publicly-held parent company of the Maxar group (“U.S. Domestication”). As part of our U.S. Domestication we believe that we will continue to capitalize on projected benefits within the Space Infrastructure segment. These benefits include anticipated growth within our U.S. government customer base as well as diversifying into national and civil missions. The failure to do so may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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The satellite manufacturing industry is driven by continued investment in technologies to meet changing customer demand for complex and reliable services. Our satellite systems embody complex technologies and may not always be compatible with current and evolving technical standards and systems developed by others. Other satellite manufacturers have developed or are developing digital payloads which increase flexibility for geostationary satellites in circumstances with unpredictable demand. We plan to team with providers of this technology to enhance our offering if our customers express interest in it.

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Failure or delays to develop technologies or team with providers to obtain technologies to meet the requisite and evolving industry or user standards could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Failure of suppliers to deliver against end customer requirements could lead to a material adverse effect on our financial results within the Space Infrastructure segment.

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Our business with various governmental entities is subject to the policies, priorities, regulations, mandates and funding levels of such governmental entities and may be negatively or positively impacted by any change thereto.

Changes in government policies, priorities, regulations, use of commercial data providers to meet U.S. government imagery needs, government agency mandates, funding levels through agency budget reductions, the imposition of budgetary constraints or a decline in government support or deferment of funding for programs in which we or our customers participate could result in contract terminations, delays in contract awards, reduction in contract scope, performance penalties or breaches of our contracts, the failure to exercise contract options, the cancellation of planned procurements and fewer new business opportunities, all of which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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We are subject to the procurement policies and procedures set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”). FAR governs all aspects of government contracting, including contractor qualifications and acquisition procedures. The FAR provisions in U.S. government contracts must be complied with in order for the contract to be awarded and provides for audits and reviews of contract procurement, performance and administration. Failure to comply with the provisions of the FAR could result in contract termination.

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In addition, contracts with any government, including the U.S. government, may be terminated or suspended by the government at any time and could result in significant liability obligations for us. We seek to have in place as standard provisions, termination for convenience language which reimburses us for reasonable costs incurred, subcontractor and employee termination and wind-down costs plus a reasonable amount of profit thereon. However, reparations for termination may fall short of the financial benefit associated with full completion and operation of a contract. In addition, we may not be able to procure new contracts to offset the revenue or backlog lost as a result of any termination of government contracts. The loss of one or more large contracts could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. See also “Our business with various governmental entities is concentrated in a small number of primary contracts. The loss or reduction in scope of any one of our primary contracts would materially reduce our revenue” below.

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Our revenue, results of operations and reputation may be negatively impacted if our programs fail to meet contractual requirements or our products contain defects or fail to operate in the expected manner.

We sell complex and technologically advanced systems, including satellites, products, hardware and software. Sophisticated software, including software developed by us, may contain defects that can unexpectedly interfere with the software’s intended operation. Defects may also occur in components and products that we manufacture or purchase from third parties. Most of the satellites and systems we have developed must function under demanding and unpredictable operating conditions and in harsh and potentially destructive environments. In addition, we may agree to the in-orbit delivery of a satellite, adding further risks to our ability to perform under a contract. Failure to achieve successful in-orbit delivery could result in significant penalties and other obligations on us.

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We employ sophisticated design and testing processes and practices, which include a range of stringent factory and on-site acceptance tests with criteria and requirements that are jointly developed with customers. Our systems may not be successfully implemented, pass required acceptance criteria, or operate or give the desired output, or we may not be able to detect and fix all defects in the satellites, products, hardware and software we sell or resolve any delays or availability issues in the launch services we procure. Failure to do so could result in increased costs, lost revenue and damage to our reputation and may adversely affect our ability to win new contract awards. We manufacture satellites with the intention of receiving full contractual value for builds; however, due to the inherent complexity, a number of adverse variables could negatively impact our ability to collect on the full amount of contractual consideration including circumstances where we may work in advance of customer funding. Such variables include, among others, schedule delays, including those caused by suppliers or major subcontractors, contractual disputes, failure to meet technological requirements and customer solvency concerns. These variables could lead to termination for convenience or default on our contracts which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. Historically, we have experienced significant delays in the building of certain satellites. The schedule delays we from time to time experience in our satellite builds, some of which are significant, are due to a number of factors, inclusive of COVID-19 delays, subcontractor issues and technological requirements and we work closely with our customers to address these delays. We have, where appropriate, asserted force majeure provisions in our contracts but these can be subject to dispute.

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Any significant disruption in or unauthorized access to our computer systems or those of third parties that we utilize in our operations, including those relating to cybersecurity or arising from cyber-attacks, and security threats could result in a loss or degradation of service, unauthorized disclosure of data, or theft or tampering of intellectual property, any of which could materially adversely impact our business.

Our operations, products, solutions, analysis and intellectual property are inherently at risk of loss, unauthorized access, tampering by both insider threats and external bad actors, or disruption due to inadvertent misconfiguration of our computers and networks. In particular, our operations face various cyber and other security threats, including those caused by physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, malware, worms, attacks by hackers or foreign

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governments, disruptions from unauthorized access and tampering, including through social engineering such as phishing attacks, coordinated denial-of-service attacks and similar incidents. These cyber and other security threats could result in attempts to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information, intellectual property, mission operations and networks. Our systems (internal, customer and partner systems) and assets may also be subject to damage or interruption from natural and other disaster events or disruptions including tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, fires, water shortages, other extreme weather conditions, epidemics or pandemics, acts of domestic or foreign terrorism, workplace violence, power shortages and blackouts, aging infrastructures and telecommunications failures. In addition, threats to the safety of our directors and employees, threats to the security of our facilities, infrastructure and supply chain, or the release of misleading or deceptive information by criminal, terrorist, or other bad actors, could have a material adverse impact on our business.

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Our products, solutions and analysis that we develop or deliver to our customers are also at risk of disruption, loss, or tampering. The integrity of the data (e.g., pixels), information, and analysis in our products and services is at risk of being manipulated either before or after delivery to a customer. Our products with derived information characteristics are also at risk of being incorrect due to errors of deceptive practices by others.

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Our customers and partners (including our supply chain and joint ventures) face similar threats. Customer or partner proprietary, classified, or sensitive information stored on our networks is at risk. Assets and intellectual property and products in customer or partner environments are also inherently at risk. We also have risk where we have access to customer and partner networks and face risks of breach, disruption or loss as well. Our supply chain for products and services also is becoming more diverse and therefore the risk is growing.

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We have implemented certain systems and processes to help thwart bad actors and protect our data and our systems and assets. The techniques used to gain unauthorized access are constantly evolving, however, and we may be unable to prevent or mitigate all unauthorized access, disruption, loss, or harm. Because of our highly desired intellectual property and our support of the U.S. government and other governments, we (and/or partners we use) may be a particularly attractive target for such attacks by advanced, persistent and highly organized adversaries, including nation states and hostile foreign governments. From time to time, we have experienced attacks on our systems from bad actors that, to date, have not had a material adverse effect on our business. We cannot offer assurances, however, that future attacks will not materially adversely affect our business.

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A security event or other significant disruption of our systems, assets, products or solutions could:

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A security event that involves classified or other sensitive government information or certain controlled technical information, could subject us to civil or criminal penalties and could result in loss of our secure facility clearance and other accreditations, loss of our government contracts, loss of access to classified information, loss of export privileges or debarment as a government contractor. The risk that these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the number of web-based products and services we offer as well as increase the number of countries within which we do business.

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Satellites are subject to construction and launch delays, launch failures, damage or destruction during launch, the occurrence of which can materially and adversely affect our operations.

Delays in the construction of satellites and the procurement of requisite components and launch vehicles, limited availability of appropriate launch windows, possible delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, satellite damage or destruction during launch, launch failures, or incorrect orbital placement could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The loss of, or damage to, a satellite due to a launch failure could result in significant delays in anticipated revenue to be generated by that satellite. Any significant delay in the commencement of service of a satellite would delay or potentially permanently reduce the revenue anticipated to be generated by that satellite. In addition, if the loss of a satellite were to occur, such as with our loss of WorldView-4, we may not be able to accommodate affected customers with our other satellites or data from another source until a replacement satellite is available, and we may not have on hand, or be able to obtain in a timely manner, the necessary funds to cover the cost of any necessary satellite replacement. We may also dispute with customers the extent and consequences of any loss or delay. Any launch delay, launch failure, underperformance, delay or perceived delay could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, business prospects and financial condition.

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If our satellites fail to operate as intended, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The manufacturing, testing, launching and operation of satellites involves complex processes and technology. Our satellites employ advanced technologies and sensors that are exposed to severe environmental stresses in space that have and could affect the performance of our satellites. Hardware component problems in space could lead to deterioration in performance or loss of functionality of a satellite. In addition, human operators may execute improper implementation commands that may negatively impact a satellite’s performance. Exposure of our satellites to an unanticipated catastrophic event, such as a meteor shower or a collision with space debris, could reduce the performance of, or completely destroy, the affected satellite. In December 2018, our WorldView-4 satellite experienced a failure in its control moment gyros, preventing the satellite from collecting imagery.

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We cannot provide assurances that our satellites will continue to operate successfully in space throughout their expected operational lives. Even if a satellite is operated properly, technical flaws in that satellite’s sensors or other technical deficiencies or anomalies could significantly hinder its performance, which could materially affect our ability to collect imagery and market our products and services successfully. While some anomalies are covered by insurance policies, others are not or may not be covered, or may be subject to large deductibles.

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If we suffer a partial or total loss of a deployed satellite, such as the failure of WorldView-4, we would need a significant amount of time and would incur substantial expense to replace that satellite. We may experience other problems with our satellites that may reduce their performance. During any period of time in which a satellite is not fully operational, we may lose most or all of the revenue that otherwise would have been derived from that satellite. Our inability to repair or replace a defective satellite or correct any other technical problem in a timely manner could result in a significant loss of revenue. If a satellite experiences a significant anomaly such that it becomes impaired or is no longer functional, it would significantly impact our business, prospects and profitability. Additionally, our review of satellite lives could extend or shorten the depreciable lives of our satellites, which would have an impact on the depreciation we recognize.

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Loss of, or damage to, a satellite and the failure to obtain data or alternate sources of data for our products may have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.

In the Earth Intelligence segment, we rely on data collected from a number of sources including data obtained from satellites. We may become unable or limited in our ability to collect such data. For example, satellites can temporarily go out of service and be recovered, or cease to function for reasons beyond our control, including the quality of design and construction, the supply of fuel, the expected gradual environmental degradation of solar panels, the durability of various satellite components and the orbits and space environments in which the satellites are placed and operated. Electrostatic storms, collisions with other objects or actions by malicious actors, including cyber related, could also damage the satellites. Our satellites may be subject to an increased risk of collision with other space objects due to growth in the number of commercial and government satellites, along with potential adversarial actions that may create more space

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debris. Additionally, in certain instances, governments may discontinue for periods of time the access to or operation of a satellite for any particular area on the Earth and for various reasons may not permit transmission of certain data, whether from a satellite owned by the government or not.

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We cannot offer assurances that each of our satellites will remain in operation. Our satellites have certain redundant systems which can fail partially or in their entirety and accordingly satellites may operate for extended periods without all redundant systems in operation, but with single points of failure. The failure of satellite components could cause damage to or loss of the use of a satellite before the end of its expected operational life. Certain of our satellites are nearing the end of their expected operational lives and we can offer no assurance that our satellites will maintain their prescribed orbits or remain operational and we may not have replacement satellites that are immediately available.

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Interruption or failure of our infrastructure or national infrastructure could hurt our ability to effectively perform our daily operations and provide and produce our products and services, which could damage our reputation and harm our operating results.

We are vulnerable to natural disasters and significant disruptions including tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, fires, water shortages, other extreme weather conditions, epidemics or pandemics, acts of domestic or foreign terrorism, workplace violence, power shortages and blackouts, aging infrastructures and telecommunications failures. Furthermore, climate change has increased, and may continue to increase, the rate, size and scope of these natural disasters. In the event of such a natural disaster or other disruption, we could experience: disruptions to our operations or the operations of suppliers, subcontractors, distributors or customers; destruction of facilities; and/or loss of life.

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The availability of many of our products and services depends on the continuing operation of our satellite operations infrastructure, satellite manufacturing operations, information technology, communications systems and national infrastructure. Any downtime, damage to or failure of our systems could result in interruptions in our service, which could reduce our revenue and profits. Our systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from floods, fires, power loss, aging infrastructure, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, computer denial of service attacks or other attempts to harm our systems. We do not currently maintain a fully comprehensive back-up production facility from which we can continue to collect, process and deliver imagery in the event of the loss of our primary facility. In the event we are unable to collect, process and deliver imagery from our facility, our daily operations and operating results would be materially and adversely affected. In addition, our ground terminal centers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, war, terrorist attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures, aging infrastructure, telecommunications failures and similar events. Our satellite manufacturing operations are located in California in proximity to the San Andreas fault line, one of the longest and most heavily populated earthquake-prone rifts in the world. Our satellite manufacturing facilities are also subject to risks associated with an aging infrastructure. An infrastructure failure could result in the destruction of satellites under construction or inventory, manufacturing delays or additional costs incurred. We do not maintain back-up manufacturing facilities or operations. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could result in lengthy interruptions in our services and/or damage our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Our business with various governmental entities is concentrated in a small number of primary contracts. The loss or reduction in scope of any one of our primary contracts would materially reduce our revenue.

Our business with various governmental entities is concentrated in a small number of primary contracts. We recognize significant revenue from U.S. government agencies and a significant amount of our U.S. government revenue is currently generated from a single contract, the EnhancedView Contract. The EnhancedView Contract is a service level agreement to provide image-tasking capacity on our satellites, and other imagery-derived products and services to the U.S. government. Our ability to service other customers could be negatively impacted if we are unable to maintain our current collection capacity. In addition, any inability on our part to meet the performance requirements of the EnhancedView Contract, or replacement contract, could result in a performance penalty or breach of that contract. A breach of our contract with government customers or reduction in service to our other customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The U.S. government may also terminate or suspend our contracts, including the EnhancedView Contract, at any time with or without cause. In November 2021, the

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NRO announced the release of the EOCL contract RFP. The EOCL contract is expected to replace the existing EnhancedView Contract. In December 2021, we submitted our response to the EOCL RFP and we anticipate the NRO to award EOCL contracts prior to the expiration of the EnhancedView Contract, including remaining option years. Any changes in the size, scope or term of the EnhancedView Contract, or any award we receive for the EOCL Contract, could impact our satellite replenishment strategy and our ability to repay or refinance our long-term debt. Although our contracts generally involve fixed annual minimum commitments, such commitments, along with all other contracts with the U.S. government, are subject to annual Congressional appropriations and the federal budget process, and as a result, the U.S. government may not continue to fund these contracts at current or anticipated levels. Similarly, our contracts in other jurisdictions are also subject to government procurement policies and procedures.

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We face competition that may cause us to have to either reduce our prices for imagery and related services or to lose market share.

Our services compete with satellite and aerial imagery and related services offered by a range of private and government providers. Our current or future competitors may have superior technologies or greater financial, personnel and other resources than we have. The value of our imagery may also be diluted by Earth imagery that is available free of charge.

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The U.S. government and foreign governments may develop, construct, launch and operate their own imagery satellites, which could reduce their need to rely on us and other commercial suppliers. In addition, such governments could sell or provide free of charge Earth imagery from their satellites and thereby compete with our imagery and related services. Also, governments may at times make our imagery freely available for humanitarian purposes, which could impair our revenue growth with non-governmental organizations. These governments could also subsidize the development, launch and operation of imagery satellites by our current or future competitors.

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Our competitors or potential competitors could, in the future, offer satellite-based imagery or other services with more attractive features than our services. The emergence of new remote imaging technologies or the continued growth of low-cost imaging satellites, could negatively affect our marketing efforts. More importantly, if competitors develop and launch satellites or other imagery-content sources with more advanced capabilities and technologies than ours, or offer services at lower prices than ours, our business and results of operations could be harmed. Due to competitive pricing pressures, such as new product introductions by us or our competitors or other factors, the selling price of our services may further decrease. If we are unable to offset decreases in our average selling prices by increasing our sales volumes or by adjusting our service mix, our revenue and operating margins may decline and our financial position may be harmed.

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We operate in highly competitive industries and in various jurisdictions across the world, which may cause us to have to reduce our prices.

We operate in highly competitive industries and many of our competitors are larger and have substantially greater resources than we have. Our primary competitors for satellite manufacturing contracts include the Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Northrop Grumman Corporation in the United States and Thales S.A. and Airbus Defence and Space, a subsidiary of the Airbus Group, in Europe. We may also face competition in the future from more emerging low-cost competitors, some of which could be subsidized or well-funded. Competition in our Earth Intelligence segment is highly diverse, and while our competitors offer different products, there is often competition for contracts that are part of governmental budgets. Our major existing and potential competitors for our Earth Intelligence segment include commercial satellite imagery companies, state-owned imagery providers, aerial imagery companies, free sources of imagery and unmanned aerial vehicles. Our Earth Intelligence segment faces competition from companies that provide geospatial analytic information and services to the U.S. government, including defense prime contractors such as L3Harris and Booz Allen Hamilton.

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In addition, some of our foreign competitors currently benefit from, and others may benefit in the future from, protective measures by their home countries where governments are providing financial support, including significant investments in the development of new technologies. Government support of this nature greatly reduces the commercial risks associated with satellite development activities for these competitors. This market environment may result in increased pressures on our pricing and other competitive factors.

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We are a party to legal proceedings, investigations and other claims or disputes, which are costly to defend and, if determined adversely to us, could require us to pay fines or damages, undertake remedial measures or prevent us from taking certain actions, any of which could adversely affect our business.

We are, and in the future may be, a party to legal proceedings, investigations and other claims or disputes, which may relate to subjects including commercial transactions, intellectual property, securities, employee relations, or compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

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For instance, in January 2019, a Maxar stockholder filed a putative class action lawsuit in the Federal District Court of Colorado, naming Maxar and members of management as defendants alleging, among other things, that our public disclosures were false or misleading in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and seeking monetary damages. An amended consolidated complaint was filed in that case in October 2019. On September 11, 2020, the court granted in part, and denied in part, Maxar’s motion to dismiss. On July 16, 2021, the Federal District Court of Colorado certified a class consisting of investors who purchased or acquired Maxar stock between May 9, 2018 and October 30, 2018, inclusive. Also, in January 2019, a Maxar stockholder resident in Canada issued a putative class action lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against Maxar and members of management claiming misrepresentations in our public disclosures and seeking monetary damages under Canadian securities laws. In November 2019, a second putative class action lawsuit was issued by the same Maxar stockholder resident in Canada, adding a second representative plaintiff and three additional defendants, including Maxar’s auditor KPMG LLP. The action against KPMG LLP was later discontinued. The second claim expands the proposed class period and the breadth of the allegations against us. In February 2020, the January 2019 Canadian lawsuit was discontinued. In October 2019, a Maxar stockholder filed a putative class action lawsuit in California state court, naming Maxar and certain members of management and the board of directors as defendants. The lawsuit is based upon many of the same underlying factual allegations as the federal class action but asserts claims under the Securities Act of 1933. An amended complaint was filed in April 2020. In November 2020, defendants filed a demurrer to the operative complaint, and in January 2021, the court largely overruled the demurrer. On August 20, 2021, the court certified a class consisting of investors who acquired Maxar stock in exchange for DigitalGlobe stock pursuant to the Company’s June 2, 2017 Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in connection with Maxar’s October 2017 acquisition of DigitalGlobe. In November 2019, a purported derivative complaint was filed against Maxar, certain current and former members of management and the board of directors in the Federal District Court of Delaware, also based on the same factual allegations as the federal putative class action. On September 18, 2020, a second purported derivative case was filed in the Federal District Court of Delaware, based on the same allegations as the earlier derivative case. The two derivative cases pending in the Federal District Court of Delaware have been consolidated and are stayed. On September 15, 2021, a third purported derivative complaint was filed against Maxar, certain current and former members of management and the board of directors in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, also based on the same factual allegations as the federal class action. In November 2021, the parties stipulated to a stay of this action.

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These legal proceedings could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources and could harm our stock price, business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition. These and other legal proceedings and investigations are inherently uncertain and we cannot predict their duration, scope, outcome or consequences. There can be no assurance that these or any such matters that have been or may in the future be brought against us will be resolved favorably. In connection with any government investigations, in the event the government takes action against us or the parties resolve or settle the matter, we may be required to pay substantial fines or civil and criminal penalties and/or be subject to equitable remedies, including disgorgement or injunctive relief. Other legal or regulatory proceedings, including lawsuits filed by private litigants, may also follow as a consequence. These matters are likely to be expensive and time-consuming to defend, settle and/or resolve and may require us to implement certain remedial measures that could prove costly or disruptive to our business and operations. They may also cause damage to our business reputation. The unfavorable resolution of one or more of these matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

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Acquisitions or divestitures could result in adverse impacts on our operations.

In order to grow our business, we may acquire additional assets or companies, including for example, our recent Vricon Acquisition completed on July 1, 2020. In connection with the Vricon Acquisition or any future acquisitions, there can be no assurance that we will be able to identify, acquire, or obtain the required regulatory approvals, or profitably manage the additional businesses or successfully integrate any acquired businesses, products or technologies without substantial expenses, delays or other operational, regulatory, or financial problems. In addition, any acquired businesses, products or technologies may not achieve anticipated revenues and income growth.

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Further, acquisitions may involve a number of additional risks, including diversion of management’s attention, failure to retain key personnel, or failure to attract the necessary talent to manage organizational growth. We may become responsible for unexpected liabilities that were not discovered or disclosed in the course of due diligence in connection with historical acquisitions and any future acquisitions. Additionally, acquisitions with international operations such as the Vricon Acquisition with operations in Sweden, expose us to greater international business risks. If we do not realize the expected benefits or synergies of an acquisition, such as revenue gains or cost reductions, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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We may also seek to divest portions of our businesses which may no longer be aligned with our strategic initiatives and long-term objectives. Various factors could materially affect our ability to successfully do so, including the availability of buyers willing to purchase the assets on terms acceptable to us, difficulties in the separation of operations, the diversion of management's attention from other business concerns, the disruption of our business, the potential loss of key employees and the retention of uncertain contingent liabilities related to the divested business. We cannot assure that we will be successful in managing these or any other significant risks that we encounter in divesting a business or product line, and any divestiture we undertake could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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Disruptions in U.S. government operations and funding could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, earnings and cash flows and otherwise adversely affect our financial condition.

Any disruptions in federal government operations could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, earnings and cash flows. A prolonged failure to maintain significant U.S. government operations, particularly those pertaining to our business, could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, earnings and cash flows. Continued uncertainty related to recent and future U.S. federal government shutdowns, the U.S. budget and/or failure of the U.S. government to enact annual appropriations, such as long-term funding under a continuing resolution, could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, earnings and cash flows. Additionally, disruptions in federal government operations may negatively impact regulatory approvals and guidance that are important to our operations.

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Changes in U.S. government policy regarding use of commercial data or space infrastructure providers, or material delay or cancellation of certain U.S. government programs, may have a material adverse effect on our revenue and our ability to achieve our growth objectives.

Current U.S. government policy encourages the U.S. government’s use of commercial data and Space Infrastructure providers to support U.S. national security objectives. Under the EnhancedView Contract, our contractual counterparty acquires imagery and imagery-derived products on behalf of our customers within the U.S. government. We are considered by the U.S. government to be a commercial data provider. U.S. government policy is subject to change and any change in policy away from supporting the use of commercial data and Space Infrastructure providers to meet U.S. government imagery and Space Infrastructure needs, or any material delay or cancellation of planned U.S. government programs, including the EnhancedView Contract, could materially adversely affect our revenue and our ability to achieve our growth objectives.

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Uncertain global macro-economic and political conditions could materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our results of operations are materially affected by economic and political conditions in the United States and internationally, including inflation, deflation, interest rates, availability of capital, energy and commodity prices, trade laws and the effects of governmental initiatives to manage economic conditions. Current or potential customers may delay or decrease spending on our products and services as their business and/or budgets are impacted by economic conditions. The inability of current and potential customers to pay us for our products and services may adversely affect our earnings and cash flows.

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Our business involves significant risks and uncertainties that may not be covered by insurance.

A significant portion of our business relates to designing, developing and manufacturing advanced space technology products and systems. New technologies may be untested or unproven. Failure of some of these products and services could result in extensive property damage. Accordingly, we may incur liabilities that are unique to our products and services.

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We endeavor to obtain insurance coverage from established insurance carriers to cover these risks and liabilities. However, the amount of insurance coverage that we maintain may not be adequate to cover all claims or liabilities. Existing coverage may be canceled while we remain exposed to the risk and it is not possible to obtain insurance to protect against all operational risks, natural hazards and liabilities.

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We have historically insured satellites in our constellation to the extent that insurance was available on acceptable premiums and other terms. The insurance proceeds received in connection with a partial or total loss of the functional capacity of any of our satellites would not be sufficient to cover the replacement cost, if we choose to do so, of an equivalent high-resolution satellite. In addition, this insurance will not protect us against all losses to our satellites due to specified exclusions, deductibles and material change limitations customary in the industry and it may be difficult or impossible to insure against certain risks, including a partial deterioration in satellite performance and satellite re-entry.

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The price and availability of insurance fluctuate significantly. Although we have historically been able to obtain insurance coverage for in-orbit satellites, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so in the future. We intend to maintain insurance for our operating satellites, but any determination we make as to whether to obtain insurance coverage will depend on a variety of factors, including the availability of insurance in the market, the cost of available insurance and the redundancy of our operating satellites. Insurance market conditions or factors outside our control at the time we are in the market for the required insurance, such as failure of a satellite using similar components, could cause premiums to be significantly higher than current estimates and could reduce amounts of available coverage. The cost of our insurance has been increasing and may continue to increase. Higher premiums on insurance policies will reduce our operating income by the amount of such increased premiums. If the terms of in-orbit insurance policies become less favorable than those currently available, there may be limits on the amount of coverage that we can obtain, or we may not be able to obtain insurance at all.

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In addition, even though we carry business interruption insurance policies, any business interruption losses could exceed the coverage available or be excluded from our insurance policies. Any disruption of our ability to operate our business could result in a material decrease in our revenues or significant additional costs to replace, repair or insure our assets, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

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We often rely on a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services and the inability of these key vendors to meet our needs could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Historically, we have contracted with a single vendor or a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services, such as construction of satellites and launch vehicles and management of certain remote ground terminals and direct access facilities. In addition, our manufacturing operations depend on specific technologies and companies for which there may be a limited number of vendors. We are increasingly dependent upon subcontractors and suppliers which subjects our business and results of operations to risks of supplier interruption. If these vendors are unable to meet

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our needs because they fail to perform adequately, are unable to match new technological requirements or opportunities, or are unable to dedicate engineering and other resources necessary to provide the services contracted for, our business, financial position and results of operations may be adversely affected. While alternative sources for these products, services and technologies may exist, we may not be able to develop these alternative sources quickly and cost-effectively, which could materially impair our ability to operate our business. Furthermore, these vendors may request changes in pricing, payment terms or other contractual obligations, which could cause us to make substantial additional investments.

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Additionally, some of our suppliers’ employees are represented by labor unions. Labor union actions at suppliers can also affect us. Work stoppages and instability in our relationships with labor unions could delay the production and/or development of our products, which could strain relationships with customers, cause a loss of revenues and adversely affect our operations.

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Disruptions in the supply of key raw materials or components and difficulties in the supplier qualification process, as well as increases in prices of raw materials, could adversely impact us.

Many raw materials, major components and product equipment items, particularly in our Space Infrastructure segment, are procured or subcontracted on a single or sole-source basis. Although we maintain a qualification and performance surveillance process and we believe that near-term sources of supply for raw materials and components are generally adequate, it is difficult to predict what effects shortages or price increases may have in the future. Supply shortages related to electronic chips is an example of some of the challenges we may face with materials. Our ability to manage inventory and meet delivery requirements may be constrained by our suppliers’ inability to scale production and adjust delivery of long-lead time products during times of volatile demand. Our inability to fill our supply needs would jeopardize our ability to fulfill obligations under commercial and government contracts, which could, in turn, result in reduced sales and profits, contract penalties or terminations and damage to customer relationships and could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition, or cash flows.

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Key raw materials used in our operations include metals such as aluminum and titanium, which are usually procured by our suppliers who manufacture parts in accordance with our drawings. We also purchase materials such as chemicals; composites; electronic, electro-mechanical and mechanical components; subassemblies; and subsystems that are integrated with the manufactured parts for final assembly into finished products and systems. We are impacted by increases in the prices of raw materials used in production on fixed-price business.

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We monitor sources of supply to attempt to assure that adequate raw materials and other supplies needed in manufacturing processes are available.

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Although we have not experienced significant difficulty in our ability to procure raw materials, components, sub-assemblies and other supplies required in our manufacturing processes, prolonged disruptions in the supply of any of our key raw materials or components, difficulty completing qualification of new sources of supply, implementing use of replacement materials, components or new sources of supply, or a continuing increase in the prices of raw materials, energy or components could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition, or cash flows.

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We are dependent on resellers of our services for a portion of our revenue. If these resellers fail to market or sell our services successfully, our business could be harmed.

The Earth Intelligence segment has historically generated a portion of its revenue from foreign and domestic resellers. In the Earth Intelligence segment, we rely on foreign resellers and partners to market and sell the majority of our services in the international market. Our foreign resellers and partners may not have the skill or experience to develop regional commercial markets for our services, or may have competing interests that negatively affect their sales of our services. If we fail to enter into reseller agreements on a timely basis or if our resellers and partners fail to market and sell our services successfully, these failures could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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We may not be successful in developing new technology and the technology we are successful in developing may not meet the needs of our customers or potential new customers.

The markets in which we operate are characterized by changing technology and evolving industry standards. Despite years of experience in meeting customer systems requirements with the latest in technological solutions, we may not be successful in identifying, developing and marketing products or systems that respond to rapid technological change, evolving technical standards and systems developed by others. Our competitors may develop technology that better meets the needs of our customers. If we do not continue to develop, manufacture and market innovative technologies or applications that meet customers’ requirements, sales may suffer and our business may not continue to grow in line with historical rates or at all. If we are unable to achieve sustained growth, we may be unable to execute our business strategy, expand our business or fund other liquidity needs and our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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Our technology may violate the proprietary rights of third parties and our intellectual property may be misappropriated or infringed upon by third parties, each of which could have a negative impact on our operations.

If any of our technology violates proprietary rights, including copyrights and patents, third parties may assert infringement claims against us. Certain software modules and other intellectual property used by us or in our satellites, systems and products make use of or incorporate licensed software components and other licensed technology. These components are developed by third parties over whom we have no control. Any claims brought against us may result in limitations on our ability to use the intellectual property subject to these claims. We may be required to redesign our satellites, systems or products or to obtain licenses from third parties to continue offering our satellites, systems or products without substantially re-engineering such products or systems.

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Our intellectual property rights may be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, infringed or required to be licensed to others. An infringement or misappropriation could harm any competitive advantage we currently derive or may derive from our proprietary rights.

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To protect our proprietary rights, we rely on a combination of patent protections, copyrights, trade secrets, trademark laws, confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties and protective contractual provisions such as those contained in license agreements with consultants, subcontractors, vendors and customers. Although we apply rigorous standards, documents and processes to protect our intellectual property, there is no absolute assurance that the steps taken to protect our technology will prevent misappropriation or infringement. Litigation may be necessary to enforce or protect our intellectual property rights, our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation may be time-consuming and expensive to prosecute or defend and could result in the diversion of our time and resources. In addition, competitors may design around our technology or develop competing technologies.

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The acceptance of our imagery services may not continue and our historic growth rates should not be relied upon as an indicator of future growth.

We cannot accurately predict the extent of the market acceptance of our services or whether there will continue to be a market for our services on terms we find acceptable. Market acceptance of our commercial high-resolution Earth imagery and related services depends on a number of factors, including the quality, scope, timeliness, sophistication, price and the availability of substitute services. Changes in the market acceptance of our offerings, or other services that utilize our imagery, failure of new markets to develop, the impact of competitive conditions, or our need to make significant investments to achieve acceptance by the market would negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may not continue to grow in line with historical rates or at all. If we are unable to achieve sustained growth, we may be unable to execute our business strategy, expand our business or fund other liquidity needs and our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

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We are dependent on our ability to attract, train and retain employees. Our inability to do so, or the loss of key personnel, would cause serious harm to our business.

Our success is largely dependent on the abilities and experience of our executive officers and other key personnel to oversee all aspects of our operations and to deliver on our corporate strategies. Competition for highly skilled management, technical, research and development and other personnel is intense in our industry. In order to maintain our ability to compete, we must continuously retain the services of a core group of specialists in a wide variety of disciplines. To the extent that the demand for qualified personnel exceeds supply, we could experience higher labor, recruiting or training costs in order to attract and retain such employees, or could experience difficulties in performing under contracts if our need for such employees is unmet. We may not be able to retain our current executive officers or key personnel or attract and retain additional executive officers or key personnel as needed to deliver on our corporate strategy. Furthermore, the recent volatility in our stock price may undermine the use of our equity as a retention tool and may make it more difficult to retain key personnel.

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Changes in our accounting estimates and assumptions could negatively affect our financial position and results of operations.

We prepare our Consolidated Financial Statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These accounting principles require us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of our financial statements. We are also required to make certain judgments that affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during each reporting period. We periodically evaluate our estimates and assumptions including, but not limited to, those relating our critical accounting policies of revenue recognition, including our long-term contracts accounted for utilizing the cost-to-cost method and income taxes in addition to other estimates related to restructuring costs, recoverability of assets including customer receivables, valuation of goodwill and intangibles, contingencies and stock-based compensation. We base our estimates on historical experience and various assumptions that we believe to be reasonable based on specific circumstances. These assumptions and estimates involve the exercise of judgment and discretion, which may evolve over time in light of operational experience, regulatory direction, developments in accounting principles and other factors. Actual results could differ from these estimates as a result of changes in circumstances, assumptions, policies or developments in the business, which could materially affect our Consolidated Financial Statements.

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We may be required to recognize impairment charges.

Long-lived assets, including goodwill and intangible assets, are tested annually for impairment in the fourth quarter or whenever there is an indication that an asset may be impaired. In the past, we have recognized significant impairment losses related to goodwill, intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, inventory and orbital receivables.

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Disruptions to our business, unexpected significant declines in our operating results, adverse technological events or changes in the regulatory markets in which we operate, and significant declines in our stock price have resulted and may result in further impairment charges to our tangible and intangible assets. Any future impairment charges could substantially affect our reported results.

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Pension and other postretirement benefit obligations may materially impact our earnings, stockholders’ equity and cash flows from operations, and could have significant adverse impacts in future periods.

We maintain defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefits plans for some of our employees. Potential pension contributions include discretionary contributions to improve the plans’ funded status. The extent of future contributions depends heavily on market factors such as the discount rate and the actual return on plan assets. We estimate future contributions to these plans using assumptions with respect to these and other items. Changes to those assumptions could have a significant effect on future contributions, annual pension and other postretirement costs, the value of plan assets and our benefit obligations.

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Significant changes in actual return on pension assets, discount rates and other factors could adversely affect our results of operations and require cash pension contributions in future periods. Changes in discount rates and actual asset returns

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different than our expected asset returns can result in significant non-cash actuarial gains or losses which we record in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year and, if applicable, in any quarter in which an interim re-measurement is triggered. With regard to cash pension contributions, funding requirements for our pension plans are largely dependent upon interest rates, actual investment returns on pension assets and the impact of legislative or regulatory changes related to pension funding obligations.

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We also provide other postretirement benefits to certain of our employees, consisting principally of health care, dental and life insurance for eligible retirees and qualifying dependents. Our estimates of future costs associated with these benefits are also subject to assumptions, including estimates of the level of medical cost increases and discount rates.

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Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates could have a negative impact on our business.

Our revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are translated into U.S. dollars for the purposes of compiling our Consolidated Financial Statements. We have in the past and may in the future, use hedging strategies to manage and minimize the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on our cash flow and economic profits. There are complexities inherent in determining whether and when foreign exchange exposures will materialize, in particular given the possibility of unpredictable revenue variations arising from schedule delays and contract postponements. Furthermore, if we use hedging strategies in the future, we could be exposed to the risk of non-performance of our hedging counterparties. We may also have difficulty with our hedging strategy in the future depending on the willingness of hedging counterparties to extend credit. Accordingly, no assurances may be given that our exchange rate hedging strategy would protect us from significant changes or fluctuations in revenues and expenses denominated in U.S. dollars.

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Our restructuring activities and cost saving initiatives may not achieve the results we anticipate.

We have previously and may in the future undertake cost reduction initiatives and organizational restructurings to improve operating efficiencies, optimize our asset base and generate cost savings. We cannot be certain that these initiatives have been or will be completed as planned or without business interruption, that these initiatives will not generate additional costs, such as severance or other charges, or that the estimated operating efficiencies or cost savings from such activities will be fully realized or maintained over time.

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Risks Related to Our Indebtedness and Our Common Stock

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Our business is capital intensive, and we may not be able to raise adequate capital to finance our business strategies, including funding future satellites, or we may be able to do so only on terms that significantly restrict our ability to operate our business.

The implementation of our business strategies, such as expanding our satellite constellation and our products and services offerings, requires a substantial outlay of capital. As we pursue our business strategies and seek to respond to opportunities and trends in our industry, our actual capital expenditures may differ from our expected capital expenditures, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to satisfy our capital requirements in the future. We are highly leveraged, but we currently expect that our ongoing liquidity requirements for sustaining our operations will be satisfied by cash on hand and cash generated from our existing and future operations supplemented, where necessary, by available credit. However, we cannot provide assurances that our businesses will generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future or that additional capital will be available in amounts sufficient to enable us to execute our business strategies. Our ability to increase our debt financing and/or renew existing credit facilities may be limited by our existing financial and non-financial covenants, credit objectives, or the conditions of the debt capital market generally. Furthermore, our current financing arrangements contain certain restrictive financial and non-financial covenants (e.g., the achievement or maintenance of stated financial ratios) that may impact our access to those facilities and significantly limit future operating and financial flexibility.

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Our ability to obtain additional debt or equity financing or government grants to finance operating working capital requirements and growth initiatives may be limited or difficult to obtain, which could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.

We need capital to finance operating working capital requirements and growth initiatives and to pay our outstanding debt obligations as they become due for payment. If the cash generated from our businesses, together with the credit available under existing bank facilities, is not sufficient to fund future capital requirements, we will require additional debt or equity financing. Our ability to access capital markets on terms that are acceptable to us will be dependent on prevailing market conditions, as well as our future financial condition. Further, our ability to increase our debt financing and/or renew existing facilities may be limited by our existing leverage, financial and non-financial covenants, credit objectives and debt capital market conditions.

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We have in the past, and may continue in the future to, receive government grants for research and development activities and other business initiatives. Any agreement or grant of this nature with government may be accompanied by contractual obligations applicable to us, which may result in the grant money becoming repayable if certain requirements are not met. A failure to meet contractual obligations under such agreements and grants and a consequent requirement to repay money received could negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.

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Our indebtedness and other contractual obligations could adversely affect our financial condition, our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, our ability to operate our business, our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry and our ability to pay our debts and could divert our cash flow from operations for debt payments.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness and leverage. Our level of indebtedness increases the possibility that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay the principal of, interest on, or other amounts due with respect to our indebtedness. Our long-term debt under our Syndicated Credit Facility bears interest at floating rates related to U.S. LIBOR (for U.S. dollar borrowings), plus a margin. As a result, our interest payment obligations on such indebtedness will increase if such interest rates increase to the extent these changes are not mitigated by our interest rate swaps. Our leverage and debt service obligations could adversely impact our business, including by:

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Any of the forgoing factors could have negative consequences on our financial condition and results of operation.

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Our current financing arrangements contain certain restrictive covenants that impact our future operating and financial flexibility.

Our current financing arrangements contain certain restrictive covenants that may impact our future operating and financial flexibility. Our debt funding is provided under our financing agreements, which contains a series of positive and negative covenants with which we must comply, including financial and non-financial covenants. If we fail to comply with any covenants and are unable to obtain a waiver or other cure thereof, the lenders under the Syndicated Credit Facility or the holders of the 2023 Notes or 2027 Notes may be able to take certain actions with respect to the

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amounts owing under such agreements or notes, as applicable, including requiring early payment thereof. Any such actions could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. These covenants could also have the effect of limiting our flexibility in planning for or reacting to changes in our business and the markets in which we compete.

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Our actual operating results may differ significantly from our guidance.

From time to time, we release guidance regarding our future performance that represents our management’s estimates as of the date of release. This guidance, which consists of forward-looking statements, is prepared by our management and is qualified by, and subject to, the assumptions and the other information contained or referred to in the release. Our guidance is not prepared with a view toward compliance with published guidelines of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and neither any independent registered public accounting firm nor any other independent expert or outside party compiles, examines or reviews the guidance and, accordingly, no such person expresses any opinion or any other form of assurance with respect thereto.

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Guidance is based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while presented with numerical specificity, is inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control and are based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions, some of which will change. We generally state possible outcomes as high and low ranges which are intended to provide a sensitivity analysis as variables are changed but are not intended to represent that actual results could not fall outside of these ranges. The principal reason that we release this data is to provide a basis for our management to discuss our business outlook with analysts and investors. We do not accept any responsibility for any projections or reports published by any such persons.

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Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions of the guidance furnished by us will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results, particularly any guidance relating to the results of operations of acquired businesses or companies as our management will be less familiar with their business, procedures and operations. Accordingly, our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release. Actual results will vary from the guidance and the variations may be material. Investors should also recognize that the reliability of any forecasted financial data will diminish the farther in the future that the data are forecast. In light of the foregoing, investors are urged to put the guidance in context and not to place undue reliance on it.

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Any failure to successfully implement our operating strategy or the occurrence of any of the events or circumstances set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K could result in the actual operating results being different than the guidance, and such differences may be adverse and material.

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We could be adversely impacted by actions of activist stockholders, and such activism could impact the value of our securities.

We value constructive input from our stockholders and the investment community. However, there is no assurance that the actions taken by our Board of Directors and management in seeking to maintain constructive engagement with our stockholders will be successful. Certain of our stockholders have expressed views with respect to the operation of our business, our business strategy, corporate governance considerations or other matters. Responding to actions by activist stockholders can be costly and time-consuming, disrupting our operations and diverting the attention of management and our employees. The perceived uncertainties as to our future direction due to activist actions could affect the market price of our stock, result in the loss of potential business opportunities and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel, board members and business partners.

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The price of our common stock has been volatile and may fluctuate substantially.

Our common stock is listed on the NYSE and the TSX and the price for our common stock has historically been volatile. The market price of our common stock may continue to be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially due to the following factors (in addition to the other risk factors described in this section):

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In addition, the stock markets in general have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have at times been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. Technical factors in the public trading market for our common stock may produce price movements that may or may not comport with macro, industry or company-specific fundamentals, including, without limitation, the sentiment of retail investors (including as may be expressed on financial trading and other social media sites), the amount and status of short interest in our common stock, access to margin debt and trading in options and other derivatives on our common stock. These market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our common stock irrespective of our operating performance.

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A significant or prolonged decrease in our market capitalization, including a decline in stock price, or a negative long-term performance outlook, could result in an impairment of our assets which results when the carrying value of our assets exceed their fair value.

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In the past several years, our securities have been the subject of short selling. Reports and information have been published about us that we believe are mischaracterized or incorrect, and which have in the past been followed by a decline in our stock price. If there are short seller allegations in the future, we may have to expend a significant amount of resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves.

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In addition, in the first quarter of 2019, we became subject to certain securities class action litigation as a result of volatility in the price of our common stock, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources and could harm our stock price, business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition. See Part I, Item 3, “Legal Proceedings” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

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Uncertainty with respect to the cessation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) at the end of 2021 could impact our cost of borrowing and interest rate risk.

We have outstanding debt and interest rate swaps with variable interest rates using LIBOR as a factor to determine the interest rates. In July 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. In addition, on March 5, 2021, the ICE Benchmark Administration confirmed its intention to cease publication of (i) one week and two month USD LIBOR settings after December 31, 2021 and (ii) the remaining USD LIBOR settings after June 30, 2023. It is unclear if at that time whether or not LIBOR will cease. Recent proposals for alternative overnight and term rates may result in the establishment of new methods of calculating one or more alternative benchmark rates.

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In the United States, the Alternative Reference Rate Committee ("ARRC"), a group of diverse private-market participants assembled by the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has begun publishing a Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), and has proposed a paced market transition to SOFR from LIBOR. SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by Treasury securities in the repurchase agreement market. Since the initial publication of SOFR, daily changes in the rate have, on occasion, been more volatile than daily changes in comparable benchmark or market rates, and SOFR over time may bear little or no relation to the historical actual or historical indicative data. At this time, it is not possible to predict how markets will respond to SOFR or the effect of any changes to LIBOR or the discontinuation of LIBOR.

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The cessation of LIBOR, including the exact timing of its cessation, as well as its transition to another benchmark rate, or rates, could have adverse impacts on our outstanding interest rate swaps maturing in 2022 and 2023 and our Syndicated Credit Facility maturing in 2023 and 2024. This change may necessitate updates to our swaps and Syndicated Credit Facility, and ultimately, adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. For example, if future rates based upon a successor reference rate such as SOFR (or a new method of calculating LIBOR) are higher or more volatile than LIBOR rates as currently determined or if our lenders have increased costs due to changes in LIBOR, we may experience increases in interest rates on our variable rate debt, which could adversely impact our interest expense, results of operations and cash flows.

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If securities or industry analysts discontinue publishing research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us, our business, our market and our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock or change their opinion of our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may impede or discourage a takeover, changes in management or changes in the Board of Directors, which could reduce the market price of our common stock.

Certain provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may delay or prevent a third-party from acquiring control of us, even if a change in control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. These provisions include:

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These provisions could impede a merger, takeover or other business combination involving us or discourage a potential acquirer from making a tender offer for our common stock, which, under certain circumstances, could reduce the market price of our common stock.

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In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware (the “Delaware Exclusive Forum Provision”). Our amended and restated bylaws further provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Federal Forum Provision”).

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The Delaware Exclusive Forum Provision is intended to apply to claims arising under Delaware state law and would not apply to claims brought pursuant to the Exchange Act or the Securities Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, the Federal Forum Provision is intended to apply to claims arising under the Securities Act and would not apply to claims brought pursuant to the Exchange Act. These exclusive forum provisions will not relieve us of our duties to comply with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder and, accordingly, actions by our stockholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder must be brought in federal courts.

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These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with the company or its directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against the Company and its directors, officers and other employees. In addition, stockholders who do bring a claim in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware pursuant to the Delaware Exclusive Forum Provision could face additional litigation costs in pursuing any such claim, particularly if they do not reside in or near Delaware. The court in the designated forum under our exclusive forum provisions may also reach different judgments on results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments or results may be more favorable to the Company than to our stockholders. Further, the enforceability of similar exclusive forum provisions in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find any of our exclusive forum provisions to be inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings. If a court were to find all or any part of our exclusive forum provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we might incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.

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There can be no assurance that we will continue to pay dividends on our common stock.

Our Board of Directors significantly reduced our dividends in the first quarter of 2019. Although our Board of Directors has historically declared a quarterly cash dividend which we have paid, the payment of future dividends is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and we may not pay quarterly dividends in the same amounts or at all in the future. The declaration, amount and timing of cash dividends are subject to capital availability and determinations by our Board of Directors that such dividends are in the best interest of our stockholders and are in compliance with all respective laws and applicable agreements. Our ability to pay dividends will depend upon, among other factors, our cash balances and potential future capital requirements for strategic transactions, including acquisitions, debt service requirements, results of operations, financial condition and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant. The elimination of our dividend payments and/or our dividend program could have a negative effect on our stock price.

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Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters

Our operations in the U.S. government market are subject to significant regulatory risk.

Our operations in the U.S. government market are subject to significant government regulation. A failure by us to maintain the relevant clearances and approvals could limit our ability to operate in the U.S. market. Further, there can be

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no assurance that we will continue to be awarded contracts by the U.S. government. In addition, a failure by us to keep current and compliant with relevant U.S. regulations could result in fines, penalties, repayments, or suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time and could have an adverse effect on our standing and eligibility for future U.S. government contracts.

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Failure to comply with the requirements of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual could result in interruption, delay or suspension of our ability to provide our products and services, and could result in loss of current and future business with the U.S. government.

We and our subsidiaries are parties to certain contracts with various departments and agencies of the U.S. government, including the U.S. Department of Defense, which require that certain of our legal entities be issued facility security clearances under the National Industrial Security Program. The National Industrial Security Program requires that a corporation maintaining a facility security clearance be effectively insulated from foreign ownership, control or influence (“FOCI”). Prior to the U.S. Domestication, we were incorporated under the laws of Canada, and had entered into a Security Control Agreement, dated January 26, 2017, by and among us, our wholly owned subsidiary, Maxar Technologies Holdings Inc. and the U.S. Department of Defense (“SCA”), as a suitable FOCI mitigation arrangement under the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual. Upon U.S. Domestication, the SCA was dissolved and we entered into a Board Resolution to mitigate remaining FOCI risks as seen by the U.S. government. Failure to maintain an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense regarding the appropriate FOCI mitigation arrangement could result in invalidation or termination of the facility security clearances, which in turn would mean that our U.S. subsidiaries would not be able to enter into future contracts with the U.S. government requiring facility security clearances, and may result in the loss of the ability of those subsidiaries to complete existing contracts with the U.S. government.

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Our business is subject to various regulatory risks that could adversely affect our operations.

The environment in which we operate is highly regulated due to the sensitive nature of our complex and technologically advanced systems, including satellites, products, hardware and software, in addition to those regulations broadly applicable to publicly listed corporations. There are numerous regulatory risks that could adversely affect operations, including but not limited to:

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Changes in tax law, in our tax rates or in exposure to additional income tax liabilities or assessments may materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

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Changes in law and policy relating to taxes, including those with retroactive effect, may materially and adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For example, the Administration and Congress could make changes to existing tax law, such as increasing the corporate tax rate and enacting a minimum tax on worldwide book income. We continue to monitor tax law developments and assess the impact on the Company.

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The U.S. enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“2017 Tax Act”) on December 22, 2017, which significantly changed the U.S. federal income taxation of U.S. corporations. The 2017 Tax Act remains unclear in many respects and has been, and may continue to be, the subject of amendments and technical corrections, as well as interpretations and implementing regulations by the Treasury and IRS, which have mitigated or increased certain adverse impacts of the 2017 Tax Act and may continue to do so in the future.

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Our ability to use our U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

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As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $520 million, $874 million and $12 million of federal, state and foreign net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards and $83 million of U.S. tax credit carryforwards primarily related to research and development expenditures, net of unrecognized tax benefits.

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Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Code”), if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change U.S. federal NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes (such as research tax credits) to offset its post-change income and taxes may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” occurs if there is a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in a corporation’s equity ownership by certain stockholders over a rolling three-year period. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply to limit our use of accumulated state tax attributes. While we do not believe that we have experienced ownership changes in the past that would materially limit our ability to utilize our NOL carryforwards, the Section 382 rules are complex and there is no assurance our view is correct. In the event that we experience ownership changes in the future, our ability to use pre-change NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes to offset post-change taxable income will be subject to limitations. As a result, we may be unable to use a material portion of our NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes, which could adversely affect our future cash flows.

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Our operations are subject to governmental law and regulations relating to environmental matters, which may expose us to significant costs and liabilities that could negatively impact our financial condition.

We are subject to various federal, state, provincial and local environmental laws and regulations relating to the operation of our businesses, including those governing pollution, the handling, storage, disposal and transportation of hazardous substances and the ownership and operation of real property. In addition, we could be affected by future regulations imposed in response to concerns over climate change, other aspects of the environment or natural resources. We have been designated, along with other companies, as a named discharger potentially responsible for the cleanup of groundwater contamination at certain sites in California where we operate and there can be no assurance that the previous owners of those properties strictly complied with such environmental laws and regulations. Such laws and regulations may result in significant liabilities and costs to us due to the actions or inactions of the previous owners. In addition, new laws and regulations, more stringent enforcement of existing laws and regulations or the discovery of previously unknown contamination could result in additional costs.

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We have incurred and will continue to incur increased costs and demands in order to comply with laws and regulations applicable to public companies.

In January 2019, we became a “domestic issuer” for SEC reporting purposes and a reporting issuer in each of the jurisdictions in Canada in which Maxar Canada was a reporting issuer. The obligations of being a public company in the U.S. and Canada require significant expenditures and will place significant demands on our management and other personnel, including costs resulting from public company reporting obligations under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, applicable Canadian securities laws, and the rules and regulations regarding corporate governance practices, including those under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the listing requirements of the NYSE and the TSX. These rules require that we maintain effective disclosure and financial controls and procedures, internal control over financial reporting and changes in corporate governance practices, among many other complex rules that are often difficult to monitor and maintain compliance with. Additionally, new standards, as well as investor expectations are developing around environmental, social and governance matters (“ESG”) and other emerging socioeconomic trends and matters, which require continual monitoring and compliance. Our management and other personnel will continue to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure compliance with all of these requirements and to keep pace with new regulations, otherwise we may fall out of compliance and risk becoming subject to reputational damage, litigation or being delisted, among other potential problems.

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Our international business exposes us to risks relating to regulation, currency fluctuations and political or economic instability in foreign markets, which could adversely affect our revenue, earnings, cash flows and our financial condition.

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A significant portion of our revenue is derived from non-U.S. sales, and we intend to continue to pursue international contracts. International operations are subject to certain risks, such as: changes in domestic and foreign governmental regulations and licensing requirements; deterioration of relations between the U.S. and/or a particular foreign country; increases in tariffs and taxes and other trade barriers; foreign currency fluctuations; changes in political and economic stability both in the U.S. and internationally; effects of austerity programs or similar significant budget reduction

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programs; potential preferences by prospective customers to purchase from local (non-U.S.) sources; difficulties in obtaining or enforcing judgments in foreign jurisdictions; and unforeseen developments and conditions, including war, epidemics and pandemics and international tensions and conflicts.

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In addition, our international contracts may include industrial cooperation agreements requiring specific in-country purchases, investments, manufacturing agreements or other financial obligations, known as offset obligations, and provide for penalties if we fail to meet such requirements. The impact of these factors is difficult to predict, but one or more of them could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

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Exposure to United Kingdom political developments, including the effect of its withdrawal from the European Union, could be costly and difficult to comply with and could harm our business.

In June 2016, a referendum was passed in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit.” This decision created an uncertain political and economic environment in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. The United Kingdom formally left the European Union on January 31, 2020 and the transition period provided for in the withdrawal agreement entered by the United Kingdom and the European Union ended on December 31, 2020. In December 2020, the United Kingdom and the European Union agreed on a trade and cooperation agreement that will apply provisionally after the end of the transition period until it is ratified by the parties to the agreement. On December 31, 2020, the United Kingdom passed legislation giving effect to the trade and cooperation agreement, with the European Union formally adopting the agreement in April 2021. The trade and cooperation agreement covers the general objectives and framework of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Depending on the application of the terms of the trade and cooperation agreement, we could face new regulatory costs and challenges.

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Our United Kingdom operations service customers in the United Kingdom as well as in other countries in the EU, and these operations could be disrupted by Brexit. The political and economic instability created by Brexit has caused and may continue to cause significant volatility in global financial markets and uncertainty regarding the regulation of data protection in the United Kingdom. In particular, the United Kingdom enacted a Data Protection Act in May 2018 that is consistent with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. In June 2021, the European Union determined that the United Kingdom’s Data Protection Act was adequate to permit the flow of certain data between the European Union and the United Kingdom without additional restrictions for a period of up to four years. This decision temporarily reduces the uncertainty surrounding how data transfers between the European Union and the United Kingdom will be regulated. Brexit could also have the effect of disrupting the free movement of goods, services, capital and people between the United Kingdom, the European Union and elsewhere including, for example, the United Kingdom’s documentation requirements on goods imported from the European Union.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

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ITEM 2.PROPERTIES

Our corporate headquarters are located at a leased facility in Westminster, Colorado. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately two million square feet of total leased floor space at multiple locations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, used for manufacturing, warehousing, research and testing, administrative and various other uses.

As of December 31, 2021, we had major operations in the following locations:

Space Infrastructure

Our Space Infrastructure segment primarily operates out of multiple locations in California. We lease approximately one million square feet of manufacturing and office space.

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Earth Intelligence

Our Earth Intelligence segment primarily operates out of our U.S. locations in Colorado, Virginia, Michigan, Florida and Missouri, our Sweden location and small sales offices located internationally. We lease approximately one million square feet of office and operations space.

We maintain our properties in good operating condition and believe that the productive capacity of our properties is adequate to meet our current requirements and those for the foreseeable future. See Note 10, “Leases”, to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional information regarding our lease commitments.

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ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

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Currently, we are involved in a number of legal proceedings. For a discussion of material legal proceedings, see Note 23, “Commitments and Contingencies” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

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ITEM 4.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

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Not applicable.

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ITEM 5.MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

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Maxar’s common stock trades on the NYSE and TSX under the ticker “MAXR”. As of February 16, 2022, there were approximately 92 stockholders of record of our common stock. This stockholder figure does not include a substantially greater number of "street name" holders or beneficial holders of our common stock whose shares are held of record by banks, brokers and other financial institutions.

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Dividends

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Dividends are declared at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial position, results of operations, cash flows, capital requirements, credit facility and other indebtedness covenants (which include limits on distributions by us), applicable law and other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. Holders of our common stock receive dividends when and as declared by our board of directors. We may modify, suspend, or cancel our cash dividends in any manner and at any time. We declared and paid dividends of $0.04 per share of common stock during 2021 and 2020.

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ITEM 6.[RESERVED]

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ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

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OVERVIEW

We are a provider of comprehensive space solutions and secure, precise, geospatial intelligence. We help government and commercial customers monitor, understand and navigate our changing planet; deliver global broadband communications; and explore and advance the use of space. Our approach combines decades of deep mission understanding and a proven commercial and defense foundation to deploy solutions and deliver insights with speed, scale and cost effectiveness. Our businesses are organized and managed in two reportable segments: Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure, as described below under “Segment Results”.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Common stock offering

On March 22, 2021, we completed an underwritten public offering of 10 million shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $40 per share (“Offering”). We received proceeds of $380 million, net of $20 million of transaction fees. The underwriters did not exercise the option to purchase an additional 1.5 million shares of our common stock prior to the expiration of the option.

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On March 26, 2021, we redeemed $350 million aggregate principal amount of our 9.75% Senior Secured Notes due 2023 (“2023 Notes”) using a portion of the net proceeds from the Offering. Additionally, we paid premiums of approximately $34 million related to the early redemption.

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COVID-19 operational posture and current impact

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We continue to monitor and adapt our pandemic crisis response plan, while maintaining a focus on the protection of the health and safety of our employees, families, customers and communities. All our locations continue to operate through a combination of work from home and personnel working on-site, though in some cases capacity utilization and productivity are below normalized levels. We are observing stress in our supplier base inside and outside the U.S. and will continue to monitor and assess the actual and potential COVID-19 impacts on employees, customers, suppliers and the productivity of the work being done, all of which to some extent will affect revenues, estimated costs to complete projects, earnings and cash flow. Our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021, were not materially impacted by COVID-19.

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Changes in our operations in response to COVID-19 and employee illnesses resulting from the pandemic have resulted in inefficiencies and delays of our projects, impacts to service level contracts, including in sales and product development efforts and additional costs related to business continuity initiatives that cannot be fully mitigated through succession planning or employees working remotely. We have delayed transition of our employees back into Maxar worksites due to increases in COVID-19 cases in the broad population. Additionally, to provide for the health and safety of our workforce and business continuity, we have implemented a Vaccination Policy which requires that Maxar employees are vaccinated for COVID-19 unless they have an approved accommodation. As of January 4, 2022, 99% of our U.S. based employees were in compliance with this policy and have either been vaccinated or received an accommodation.

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WorldView Legion satellites update

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We continue to make progress during the test and integration phase. During January 2022, we experienced delays related to COVID-19 protocols and now, assuming no major issues arise, anticipate the first launch of the WorldView Legion satellites in the June to July, 2022 timeframe. We plan on having three launches in total and expect the second and third launches to be within three and six months, respectively, after the first launch.

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SEGMENT RESULTS

Our Chief Operating Decision Maker measures performance of our reportable segments based on revenue and Adjusted EBITDA. Our operating and reportable segments are: Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure.

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Earth Intelligence

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In the Earth Intelligence segment, we are a global leader in high-resolution space-based Earth observation imagery products and analytics. We launched the world’s first high-resolution commercial imaging satellite in 1999 and currently operate a four-satellite imaging constellation, providing us with over two decades and approximately 137 petabytes of imagery over our history (referred to as our “Image Library”) of the highest-resolution, commercially available imagery. Our imagery solutions provide customers with timely, accurate and mission-critical information about our changing planet and support a wide variety of government and enterprise applications, including mission planning, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring, disaster management, crop management, oil and gas exploration and infrastructure management. We continue to innovate as demands for new satellite technology and advanced analytic tools increase. We are a leader in commercial satellite imagery, and our commitment to accuracy, clarity and recency of foundational mapping enables us to provide the highest quality imagery basemaps for our customers. The high-quality satellite also enables us to provide advanced 3D modeling for augmented reality (“AR”), virtual reality (“VR”) and interactive engagement through our Precision3D Suite of tools. The U.S. government is the largest customer of our Earth Intelligence segment through the EnhancedView Contract, G-EGD and OWT programs and various classified and unclassified contract vehicles. In the commercial satellite Earth observation industry, we are a leader across U.S. government agencies, international government agencies and enterprise customer verticals.

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We also provide geospatial services that combine imagery, analytic expertise and innovative technology to deliver intelligence solutions to customers. Our approximately 1,700 cleared personnel support analytic solutions that accurately document change and enable geospatial modeling and analysis that help predict where events will occur. Our primary customer of geospatial services is the U.S. government, but we also support intelligence requirements for other U.S. allied governments, global development organizations and enterprise customers.

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Space Infrastructure

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In the Space Infrastructure segment, we provide solutions for communications, Earth observation, remote sensing, on-orbit servicing, robotic assembly and space exploration. We address a broad spectrum of needs for our customers, including mission systems engineering, product design, spacecraft manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing. Our principal customers in the Space Infrastructure segment are commercial satellite operators and government agencies worldwide. Our approach combines proven success gained over six decades in the industry with the nimbleness and agility of a smaller space company.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

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The following table provides selected annual financial information for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

*Not meaningful.

Product and service revenues

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Total revenues increased to $1,770 million from $1,723 million, or by $47 million, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 2020. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in revenues in our Space Infrastructure and Earth Intelligence segments.

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Total revenues increased to $1,723 million from $1,666 million, or by $57 million, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 2019. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in revenue in our Space Infrastructure segment partially offset by a decrease in revenue in our Earth Intelligence segment. The revenue decrease in our Earth Intelligence segment was primarily driven by a $40 million decrease in the recognition of deferred revenue related to the EnhancedView Contract. We recognized $120 million of deferred revenue from the EnhancedView Contract for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to $80 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, as it was fully recognized as of August 31, 2020.

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Further discussion of the drivers behind the increase in revenues is included within the “Results by Segment” section below.

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See Note 16, “Revenues” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for product and service revenues by segment.

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Product and service costs

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Total cost of product and services decreased to $984 million from $993 million, or by $9 million, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 2020. The decrease in costs was driven by a decrease in product costs within our Space Infrastructure segment partially offset by an increase in service costs within our Earth Intelligence segment.

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Total cost of product and services increased to $993 million from $975 million, or by $18 million, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 2019. The increase in costs was primarily driven by an increase in costs within our Earth Intelligence segment partially offset by a decrease within our Space Infrastructure segment.

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Selling, general and administrative

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Selling, general and administrative costs increased to $369 million from $332 million, or by $37 million, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase in labor related expenses of $28 million, an increase in research and development expenses within the Space Infrastructure segment of $11 million and an increase in other expenses of $4 million. The increase in labor related expenses was primarily driven by an increase in headcount, employee compensation and fringe benefits. These increases were partially offset by a $6 million decrease in transaction and integration related expenses.

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Selling, general and administrative costs increased to $332 million from $325 million, or by $7 million, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 2019. The increase was primarily due to an increase in stock-based compensation expense of $23 million. Stock-based compensation expense increased primarily due to a higher stock price. The increase was also due to an increase in labor related expenses of $16 million driven primarily by an increase in headcount and employee compensation. These increases were partially offset by a $15 million decrease in restructuring expenses, a $9 million decrease in transaction and integration related expenses and a $7 million decrease in travel related expenses driven by our COVID-19 operating posture.

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Depreciation and amortization

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Depreciation and amortization expense decreased to $290 million from $348 million, or by $58 million, for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 2020. The decrease was primarily driven by a decrease in amortization expense for backlog acquired as part of the acquisition of DigitalGlobe, Inc. on October 5, 2017. We recognized ten months of amortization expense for the year ended December 30, 2020, compared to none for the year ended December 31, 2021, as all of the U.S. government acquired backlog was fully amortized as of October 2020. The decrease was also driven by a decrease in depreciation expense related to the extension of the useful lives of two satellites in the fourth quarter of 2020 and three satellites in the fourth quarter of 2021. These decreases were partially offset by the inclusion of a full year of depreciation and amortization expense from property, plant and equipment and intangible assets acquired as part of the Vricon Acquisition on July 1, 2020, compared to two quarters of expense in 2020.

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Depreciation and amortization expense decreased to $348 million from $376 million, or by $28 million, for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to 2019. The decrease was primarily driven by a decrease in amortization expense for backlog acquired as part of the DigitalGlobe acquisition. We recognized a full year of amortization expense for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to approximately nine months for the year ended December 31, 2020, as all of the U.S. government acquired backlog was fully amortized in October 2020. The decrease was also driven by a decrease in depreciation expense related to asset retirements made in the second half of 2019 and in the first quarter of 2020, the extension of the useful life of one satellite in the fourth quarter of 2019 and two satellites in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the sale of our owned properties in Palo Alto in December 2019. These decreases were partially offset due to the inclusion of depreciation and amortization expense from property, plant and equipment and intangible assets acquired as part of the Vricon Acquisition on July 1, 2020, compared to no such expense in 2019.

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(Gain) loss on orbital receivables allowance

*Not meaningful.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, as a result of an increased certainty of collections of the outstanding orbital receivables from our largest customer, due to their emergence from bankruptcy, we recognized a $49 million reversal of our orbital receivables allowance.

During each of the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we recognized a $14 million loss on our orbital receivables allowance within the Space Infrastructure segment. The losses were primarily due to a decrease in the credit rating associated with our largest orbital receivables customer.

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Impairment loss

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*Not meaningful.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized an impairment loss of $33 million related to the write-off of a $33 million prepaid asset with a commercial provider of ground station services under a contract which was above current market value. In December 2020, we executed a new multi-year contract with the provider for services at reduced cost. As a result of the prior contract being terminated and the new contract being at market value, we concluded the remaining prepaid asset from the prior contract with the provider had no continuing value. There were no impairment losses recorded for the year ended December 31, 2021 or 2019.

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Satellite insurance recovery

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During the year ended December 31, 2019, we received a satellite insurance recovery of $183 million related to the loss of imaging capability of our WorldView-4 satellite in December 2018. There was no satellite insurance recovery during the year ended December 31, 2021 or 2020.

Loss (gain) on sale of assets

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During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized no loss (gain) on sale of assets. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized a $1 million loss on sale of assets. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recorded a gain of $136 million related to the sale and subsequent leaseback of our owned properties in Palo Alto, California.

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Interest expense, net

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