name: Maxar Technologies Vocabulary
description: >-
  Controlled vocabulary covering Maxar's corporate history (DigitalGlobe → MDA
  → Maxar → Advent → Vantor/Lanteris), satellite platforms, imagery products
  and the public API surface area (Vantor Hub + MGP).
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/maxar-technologies/main/vocabulary/maxar-technologies-vocabulary.yml
created: '2026-05-23'
modified: '2026-05-23'

terms:

  # Corporate
  - term: DigitalGlobe
    definition: Earth-imaging company founded 1992 in Oakland, California; merged with MDA in 2017 to form Maxar Technologies.
    type: Corporation
  - term: MDA
    definition: MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates — Canadian space-systems company that acquired DigitalGlobe in 2017.
    type: Corporation
  - term: Maxar Technologies
    definition: Publicly traded Earth-imaging and space-systems company (NYSE/TSX MAXR) formed 2017 from MDA + DigitalGlobe; taken private by Advent International in May 2023.
    type: Corporation
  - term: Advent International
    definition: Boston-based private-equity firm; acquired Maxar in May 2023 for USD 6.4 billion and split it into Maxar Intelligence and Maxar Space Systems.
    type: PrivateEquity
  - term: Maxar Intelligence
    definition: Imagery and spatial-intelligence operating unit of Maxar after the September 2023 split; rebranded Vantor on 1 October 2025.
    type: BusinessUnit
  - term: Maxar Space Systems
    definition: Satellite-manufacturing operating unit of Maxar after the September 2023 split; rebranded Lanteris Space Systems on 1 October 2025; acquired by Intuitive Machines for ~USD 800 million on 13 January 2026.
    type: BusinessUnit
  - term: Vantor
    definition: Spatial-intelligence company that succeeded Maxar Intelligence on 1 October 2025; headquartered in Westminster, Colorado; remains an Advent International portfolio company.
    type: Corporation
  - term: Lanteris Space Systems
    definition: Satellite-manufacturing company that succeeded Maxar Space Systems on 1 October 2025; headquartered in Palo Alto, California; acquired by Intuitive Machines in January 2026.
    type: Corporation
  - term: Intuitive Machines
    definition: NASDAQ-listed space-services company that acquired Lanteris from Advent in January 2026 for approximately USD 800 million.
    type: Corporation

  # Satellites & constellations
  - term: WorldView-1
    definition: High-resolution panchromatic Earth-imaging satellite launched 2007.
    type: Satellite
  - term: WorldView-2
    definition: High-resolution multispectral Earth-imaging satellite launched 2009.
    type: Satellite
  - term: WorldView-3
    definition: 30 cm-class super-spectral Earth-imaging satellite launched 2014.
    type: Satellite
  - term: GeoEye-1
    definition: Half-meter resolution Earth-imaging satellite launched 2008.
    type: Satellite
  - term: WorldView Legion
    definition: Six-satellite next-generation Earth-imaging constellation launched 2024-2026, providing 30 cm-class native resolution and 15× the capacity of the legacy fleet.
    type: Constellation
  - term: Vantor Constellation
    definition: Combined operational fleet under Vantor — WorldView-1/2/3, GeoEye-1 and WorldView Legion.
    type: Constellation

  # Products
  - term: Vivid
    definition: Maxar's cloud-free, color-balanced global basemap product.
    type: Product
  - term: Tensorglobe
    definition: Vantor's multi-sensor data-fusion software platform spanning space, air and ground.
    type: Product
  - term: SecureWatch
    definition: Maxar imagery streaming service exposed via WMS/WMTS/WFS at securewatch.maxar.com.
    type: Product
  - term: Maxar Open Data Program
    definition: Free public STAC catalog of pre-/post-event high-resolution imagery hosted on AWS Open Data under CC-BY-NC 4.0.
    type: Program
  - term: MGP
    definition: Maxar Geospatial Platform — the umbrella platform exposing Streaming, Discovery, Ordering, Tasking, Monitoring and Account services via SDKs (Python, Java, R).
    type: Platform
  - term: Vantor Hub
    definition: Vantor developer portal (hub.vantor.com / pro.maxar.com) exposing Authentication, Discovery and Account Services APIs plus integrations and SDKs.
    type: Platform

  # API concepts
  - term: STAC
    definition: SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog specification — the industry-standard JSON format for indexing geospatial assets.
    type: Standard
  - term: WMS
    definition: OGC Web Map Service — standardised HTTP interface for requesting georeferenced map images.
    type: Standard
  - term: WMTS
    definition: OGC Web Map Tile Service — standardised HTTP interface for fetching pre-rendered map tiles.
    type: Standard
  - term: WFS
    definition: OGC Web Feature Service — standardised HTTP interface for querying vector features.
    type: Standard
  - term: COG
    definition: Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF — a GeoTIFF organised for HTTP range-read access from object storage.
    type: Format
  - term: Tasking
    definition: Commissioning a new satellite collection over a specific area of interest within a time window.
    type: Concept
  - term: AOI
    definition: Area of Interest — a polygon geometry that scopes a search, order, monitor or tasking request.
    type: Concept
  - term: GSD
    definition: Ground Sample Distance — the distance between pixel centres measured on the ground, in metres.
    type: Concept