WESTMINSTER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI), the global leader in Earth imagery and information about our changing planet, today announced that it signed a Direct Access Program (DAP) contract with the Australian Department of Defence. This multi-year agreement will allow the Australian government to access DigitalGlobe’s industry-leading commercial satellite imaging constellation to support defense and intelligence missions. The contract is expected to deliver $83.0 million USD in incremental revenue to DigitalGlobe over four years, beginning in January 2018.
As a DAP partner, the Australian Department of Defence will be able to directly task and download imagery in real-time to its ground station from all five DigitalGlobe satellites—including WorldView-4, launched in November 2016, and WorldView-3, launched in August 2014, which are the world’s two highest-resolution commercial satellites. The addition of Australia—a key ally of the U.S. and member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance—expands the global footprint of DigitalGlobe’s DAP program and reflects the Australian government’s commitment to increase the use of commercial satellite imagery for its critical national defense and intelligence missions.
MDA is a long-standing partner in DigitalGlobe’s Direct Access Program and will be providing the multi-satellite ground system to support tasking, reception and precision processing of imagery from the satellite constellation. VIASAT will provide the ground antenna systems that will enable direct tasking and downlink capabilities.
“DigitalGlobe is a trusted partner to the Australian Department of Defence,” said Dan Jablonsky, SVP and General Manager of Defense & Intelligence at DigitalGlobe. “We currently provide timely, high-resolution imagery to Australia via our web-based SecureWatch service. This agreement provides enhanced, real-time access to DigitalGlobe’s industry-leading satellite constellation to enable decision-making with confidence. We look forward to working closely with Australia as it further integrates high-quality commercial satellite imaging capabilities into its military operations, border protection and humanitarian missions.”
About DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe is a leading provider of commercial high-resolution Earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions that help decision makers better understand our changing planet in order to save lives, resources and time. Sourced from the world's leading constellation, our imagery solutions deliver unmatched coverage and capacity to meet our customers' most demanding mission requirements. Each day customers in defense and intelligence, public safety, civil agencies, map making and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, navigation technology, and providers of location-based services depend on DigitalGlobe data, information, technology and expertise to gain actionable insight.
Special note about forward-looking statements
Certain statements contained herein, including statements about our 2017 outlook, contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. We generally identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “ can,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “would,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue” or “looks forward to” or the negative of these terms or other similar words, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.
Forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations and assumptions of future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Some of the risks or uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to: the loss or reduction in scope of any of our primary contracts, or decisions by customers not to exercise renewal options; the availability of government funding for our products and services both domestically and internationally; our ability to meet our obligations under the EnhancedView contract; our reliance on a limited number of vendors to provide certain key products or services to us; breach of our system security measures or loss of our secure facility clearance and accreditation; the loss or damage to any of our satellites; delays in the construction and launch of any of our satellites or our ability to achieve and maintain full operational capacity of all our satellites; loss or damage to the content contained in our ImageLibrary; interruption or failure of our ground systems and other infrastructure; decrease in demand for our imagery products and services; increased competition that may reduce our market share or cause us to lower our prices; changes in political or economic conditions, including fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies, interest rates, energy and commodity prices, trade laws and the effects of governmental initiatives to manage economic conditions; our ability to recruit, hire or retain key employees or a highly skilled and diverse workforce; failure to obtain or maintain required regulatory approvals and licenses; and, changes in U.S. or foreign law or regulation that may limit our ability to distribute our imagery products and services. Additional risks and uncertainties related to the proposed transaction with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (“MDA”) include the possibility that the parties may be unable to obtain required regulatory approvals or that other conditions to closing the transaction may not be satisfied, such that the transaction will not close or that the closing may be delayed; the potential adverse effect on partner and customer relationships, operating results and business generally resulting from the proposed transaction; the proposed transaction will require significant time, attention and resources, potentially diverting attention from the conduct of DigitalGlobe’s business; the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction may not be realized; the anticipated and unanticipated costs, fees, expenses and liabilities related to the transaction; the outcome of any legal proceedings related to the transaction; and the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the transaction agreement. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors can be found in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016.
We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. References in this filing to “DigitalGlobe,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to DigitalGlobe, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.