Advanced Television

Maxar/SS-L boss quits

January 16, 2019

By Chris Forrester

Howard Lance, CEO at Maxar Technologies, which owns Space Systems/Loral as well as the DigitalGlobe mapping and Earth observation business, is stepping down unexpectedly. He had been in post just 32 months.

Maxar has been under extreme pressure these past months because of the downturn in orders from the geostationary sector and had already announced the closure of its SS/L satellite manufacturing plant in Palo Alto.

Daniel Jablonsky, currently CEO at DigitalGlobe would replace Lance. However, DigitalGlobe is also suffering from the in-orbit failure of its WorldView-4 satellite which had a dramatic impact on Maxar’s share price. That loss is now the subject of an insurance claim.

Maxar thanked Lance for his contributions, especially in the migration of Maxar from Canada into a US business. Maxar said near-term company priorities include “determining a definitive resolution for the GEO communications satellite line of business, and clarifying longer-term growth prospects, required investments and the optimal capital structure.”

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