The promise of on-orbit servicing as business for MDA has been in the works for over a decade. In 2011 MDA signed Intelsat as its anchor customer for its Space Infrastructure Servicing vehicle. That deal fell through. Now, almost 10 years after that deal was signed, MDA is making some progress, as evidenced by its latest contracts.
On Tuesday MDA announced it was the beneficiary of multiple contracts with Maxar Technologies, though the number of contracts and the value were not released. So we have no way in evaluating the value of these contracts to the company, at least financially.
What is important, is that MDA finally has an on-orbit servicing commercial export win, albeit a small win. And yes, it’s with the company it originally created to enter the US market, and which earlier this year divested itself of MDA to private Canadian owners.
Before I get into why I think it’s a small win, let’s take a look at what MDA is planning to provide Maxar. And I will note that MDA likely doesn’t share my analysis as to this being a small win. To them, this is an important set of contracts. I agree it’s important, but there needs to be some background information shared which adds context to the win.
MDA will be providing “advanced space robotics technologies” for Maxar’s Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER) which will be used for NASA’s On‑orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) mission.
The specific software and technology MDA will provide include the following:
- A dexterous end effector;
- Robotic arm control software;
- Motor control software;
- Robotic console command and control software and computers;
- Grapple fixtures and targets for on-orbit assembly interfaces, and
- Compact cameras and controllers for situational awareness and robotic arm operation.
That MDA is commercializing its years of robotic software and hardware intellectual property in this way is important. However, it’s not completely new. Hence, why I call it a small win. NASA’s OSAM-1 mission was formerly known as Restore-L and in 2016 MDA’s subsidiary SSL won the NASA contract for this mission which at the time would be valued at a maximum of US $127 million.
Over the intervening years Restore-L never fully materialized as fully funded mission. That is until January of this year when NASA awarded Maxar a US$142 million contract to move forward with the project. The plan now will see the spacecraft launched in 2024.
The OSMA-1 mission “will demonstrate robotic servicing technologies in orbit, including satellite refueling, assembly and in-space manufacturing. The SPIDER payload’s lightweight 16-foot (5-metre) robotic arm will assemble multiple antenna reflector elements to form a single, functional 9-foot (3-metre) communications Ka-band antenna.”
MDA’s CEO Mike Greenley said “these contracts position MDA for continued success in the commercial space robotics market, an emerging business area forecast to generate global revenues in excess of USD $4.5 billion in the next 10 years. Our work on this program will leverage over 40 years of spaceflight heritage and a successful track record in the design, development and operational support of space robotics.”
Indeed, MDA is well positioned to take advantage of the commercial space robotics markets and these contracts are a win. But as with anything related to on-orbit servicing, expectations needs to be tempered with reality. MDA was bullish on the technology 10 years ago. And here we are today about four years from an actual demonstration. And there’s a reason NASA is funding this demonstration. The software and technology need to be validated. And that will take time. If the demonstrations are successful, then we’ll see how the on-orbit servicing market develops.