Executive Mosaic is pleased to announce Dan Jablonsky, president and CEO of Maxar Technologies, as a recipient of the Wash100 Award for the second consecutive year in recognition of his leading role in cementing the satellite imagery company’s position as a key player in the government contracting sector through notable contract awards and industry partnerships.
“Dan has elevated Maxar dramatically in the past four years, and he has rapidly raised the company’s profile and success with their largest customers: the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,” commented Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and creator of the Wash100 Award. “Maxar operates literally around the globe as a true international company, building its constellation while augmenting key industry providers like Intelsat,” Garrettson added.
The award, which has represented the highest honor in the vast GovCon space for 10 years, annually selects the most impressive executives in the industry. Continuing the tradition, this year’s nominees were put through a rigorous selection process that carefully considered each executive’s accomplishments and hand-picked the strongest performers for the 2023 Wash100 class.
In an interview with ExecutiveBiz last year, Jablonsky discussed Maxar’s rapidly growing presence as a federal contractor, which he has worked to cultivate since joining the company in 2019.
“Maxar is a global leader in our industry, and we are seeing increased awareness of our capabilities and demand for our technologies. There are many opportunities ahead for us with all we can offer to customers and partners to help them achieve mission success,” he stated.
Within the past year, Jablonsky has further accelerated these expansion efforts, which have resulted in numerous contract awards.
In May 2022, Maxar received a potential 10-year, $3.24 billion contract from NRO, the agency’s largest commercial imagery acquisition effort to date.
This significant win, said Jablonsky, is a milestone he believes will drive the company’s public sector work forward in the coming years.
Within the past year, Maxar also won a NASA contract to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geostationary Extended Observations Spacecraft mission as well as an extension to its potential $176 million Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery program award from NGA.
Outside of contract awards, Jablonsky’s leadership has steered Maxar into multiple new partnerships and expanded existing relationships to widen its portfolio of federal government offerings.
“Maxar is laser-focused on working closely with our current customers and partners — large technology companies, defense companies and telecommunications organizations across the globe. We want to diversify and expand those relationships,” Jablonsky told ExecutiveBiz.
As part of his push for collaboration, Maxar acquired artificial intelligence and software development consultancy Wovenware. The acquisition, which was completed in November of last year, reflected the already strong relationship between the two companies.
That same month, L3Harris Technologies tapped Maxar to design and produce 14 spacecraft platforms and provide related support as part of the former’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer contract with the Space Development Agency.
Maxar also made a strategic investment in Blackshark.ai, a provider of AI-driven geospatial analytics services, to drive 3D Earth intelligence portfolio innovation.
In December, Maxar awarded Sierra Space a contract to provide solar power systems and production services for a constellation of 16 satellites based on Maxar’s proliferated low Earth orbit spacecraft platform.
Four satellites Maxar manufactured for Intelsat’s Galaxy fleet refresh initiative launched in the last two months of 2022, as part of a five-satellite deal between the two companies.
Maxar additionally received an update to a remote sensing license from NOAA that allows the company to utilize non-Earth imaging for its current constellation and next-generation WorldView Legion satellites, marking an important step in its geospatial intelligence ventures.
Closing out the year, Maxar agreed to be acquired by Advent International for approximately $6.4 billion in cash, a transaction that Jablonsky said will provide the space technology company with “enhanced flexibility and additional resources to build on its strong foundation, further scale operations and capture the significant opportunities in a rapidly expanding market.”
“Our future is tied into how Maxar can expand and grow these relationships, build a strong partner ecosystem and get to the best possible customer solutions. Our capabilities add value as we partner with organizations to provide solutions for our customer’s greatest challenges,” Jablonsky added.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Dan Jablonsky and the Maxar team for their 2023 Wash100 Award win and looks forward to their future endeavors in space and geospatial intelligence.
