MDA Space won a $1.1B CAD ($768.1M) contract from Globalstar to build the company’s next-generation LEO constellation, the companies announced yesterday.
Under the contract, the Canadian space company will build 50+ AURORA sats for the American satellite connectivity company, though the announcement did not lay out a time frame for delivery or launch.
“With the full contract now in place, we are moving full speed ahead on the program,” MDA CEO Mike Greenley said in a statement.
Background: MDA first hinted at the agreement in 2023, when the company announced it had gotten a first tranche of funding from a mystery customer to begin work.
Globalstar is backed in part by Apple, which announced a plan in November to invest $1.7B in the company to boost space-based comms for iPhone users.
Déjà vu: MDA is also building nearly 200 sats for Telesat’s Lightspeed broadband constellation in LEO under a $2.1B CAD ($1.47B) contract announced in August 2023. The first sats in that constellation, which is expected to offer customers ultrafast, ultra-secure comms services from space, are slated to launch in mid-2026, with service beginning by the end of 2027.
The market reacts: MDA Space shares were up 12% following the announcement.
