Loss of, or damage to, a satellite, adversarial actions impacting the function of our satellites and the failure to obtain data or alternate sources of data for our products may have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.
In the Earth Intelligence segment, we rely on data collected from a number of sources including data obtained from satellites. We may become unable or limited in our ability to collect such data. For example, satellites can temporarily go out of service and be recovered, or cease to function for reasons beyond our control, including the quality of design and construction, the supply of fuel, the expected gradual environmental degradation of solar panels, the durability of various satellite components and the orbits and space environments in which the satellites are placed and operated. Electrostatic storms, collisions with other objects or actions by malicious actors, including cyber related, could also damage the satellites. Our satellites may be subject to an increased risk of collision with other space objects due to growth in the number of commercial and government satellites. In addition, the functioning of our satellites could be adversely impacted by potential adversarial actions that may create more space debris or through anti-satellite devices, electromagnetic or radio interference with our satellites, cyber and other security attacks, and other similar types of attacks, any or all of which are potentially capable of destroying our satellites or ground systems architecture or rendering them permanently impaired or inoperable. The risk of these malicious and adversarial actions could be exacerbated by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine discussed above. Additionally, in certain instances, governments may discontinue for periods of time the access to or operation of a satellite for any particular area on the Earth and for various reasons may not permit transmission of certain data, whether from a satellite owned by the government or not.
We cannot offer assurances that each of our satellites will remain in operation. Our satellites have certain redundant systems which can fail partially or in their entirety and accordingly satellites may operate for extended periods without all redundant systems in operation, but with single points of failure. The failure of satellite components could cause damage to or loss of the use of a satellite before the end of its expected operational life. Certain of our satellites are nearing the end of their expected operational lives and we can offer no assurance that our satellites will maintain their prescribed orbits or remain operational and we may not have replacement satellites that are immediately available.
Interruption or failure of our infrastructure or national infrastructure could hurt our ability to effectively perform our daily operations and provide and produce our products and services, which could damage our reputation and harm our operating results.
We are vulnerable to natural disasters and significant disruptions including tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, fires, water shortages, other extreme weather conditions, epidemics or pandemics, acts of domestic or foreign terrorism, workplace violence, power shortages and blackouts, aging infrastructures and telecommunications failures. Furthermore, climate change has increased, and may continue to increase, the rate, size and scope of these natural disasters. In the event of such a natural disaster or other disruption, we could experience: disruptions to our operations or the operations of suppliers, subcontractors, distributors or customers; destruction of facilities; and/or loss of life.
The availability of many of our products and services depends on the continuing operation of our satellite operations infrastructure, satellite manufacturing operations, information technology, communications systems and national infrastructure. Any downtime, damage to or failure of our systems could result in interruptions in our service, which could reduce our revenue and profits. Our systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from floods, fires, power loss, aging infrastructure, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, computer denial of service attacks or other attempts to harm our systems. We do not currently maintain a fully comprehensive back-up production facility from which we can continue to collect, process and deliver imagery in the event of the loss of our primary facility. In the event we are unable to collect, process and deliver imagery from our facility, our daily operations and operating results would be materially and adversely affected. In addition, our ground terminal centers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, war, terrorist attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures, aging infrastructure, telecommunications failures and similar events. Our satellite manufacturing operations are located in California in proximity to the San Andreas fault line, one of the longest and most heavily populated earthquake-prone rifts in the world. Our satellite manufacturing facilities are also subject to risks associated with an aging infrastructure. An infrastructure failure could result in the destruction of satellites under construction or inventory, manufacturing delays or additional costs incurred. We do not maintain back-up manufacturing