Maxar booms, but cautious on supplying Telesat
August 10, 2020
Dan Jablonsky, president/CEO of Maxar Technologies, buoyed by a healthy share price and extremely strong Q2 results, told analysts that one of his priorities was to “expand margins”.
Jablonsky said that while he did not rule out supplying Ottawa-based Telesat with its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, Maxar did not want the market to think they were in deep throes [of the bid].
“Telesat has been a longtime customer of ours,” said Jablonsky. “We built a lot of Geostationary satellites for them. If and when they need us, either for that or for the Telesat LEO programme as it may morph in the future, we’re very happy to provide services. So it’s potential upside in the future, but I wouldn’t say it is something we’ve modeled into the guidance we’ve given long-term.”
Maxar and other potential suppliers have been expecting Telesat to place its orders for some time. Jablonsky told analysts: “What I’d say right now is, it’s kind of every quarter, it’s been the next quarter. In its current form, we’re not expecting active participation,” he said. “We’re happy to help the customer if their expectations or timing change.”
As to its Q2 numbers, Colorado-based Maxar saw growth in all of the company’s key divisions, a net income of $306 million and an order backlog of $1.9 billion and up $300 million on Q1.
The Telesat LEO order is widely reported to be worth a total of some $3 billion.