WASHINGTON — Maxar Intelligence, a satellite imaging and geospatial data provider, has signed three contracts worth a combined $204.7 million with undisclosed government customers in the Middle East and Africa, the company announced July 8.
The deals — among Maxar’s largest ever outside the United States — reflect a rising global demand for space-based intelligence.
Under the multi-year agreements, these governments will be part of Maxar’s Direct Access Program (DAP), a premium service that allows vetted customers to directly control and task the company’s high-resolution Earth observation satellites from their own secure ground stations.
Maxar did not reveal which countries signed the contracts, citing confidentiality agreements.
The company said that under these contracts, customers can schedule imaging windows with as little as 15 minutes’ notice and downlink the data directly to their ground stations for immediate analysis, giving nations an alternative to building and maintaining their own satellite infrastructure.
Based in Westminster, Colorado, Maxar operates a fleet of high-resolution imaging satellites and partners with other commercial satellite providers such as Umbra Space and Satellogic. These partnerships allow Maxar to function as a “virtual constellation,” giving clients broader coverage and higher revisit rates than any one provider could offer alone.
The Middle East and Africa region, long seen as a growth area for defense tech, is pursuing what analysts call “sovereign geointelligence” — the ability to gather, control and exploit geospatial data independently.
“The ongoing digitalization of modern defense and security operations has driven a big growth in international demand for sovereign geointelligence capabilities,” said Anders Linder, general manager for international government at Maxar. “The MEA region has long been on the forefront of investing in technological innovation, and our expanded partnerships reflect the strategic importance of sovereign space-based capabilities.”
He said governments across the region are seeking to enhance surveillance, border security, environmental monitoring and disaster response using satellite intelligence.