Canadian space and defense capabilities are set to receive a significant boost as MDA Ltd. expands its commercial space surveillance services in support of the Department of National Defence (DND) and NORAD. Under a new contract announced in May 2024, MDA will deliver enhanced orbital tracking capabilities to improve Canada’s situational awareness in the increasingly contested space domain.
New Contract Strengthens Canada’s Space Domain Awareness
MDA Ltd., a leading Canadian aerospace and defense technology company based in Brampton, Ontario, has been awarded a contract by Public Services and Procurement Canada on behalf of the DND. The agreement enables MDA to provide upgraded commercial data services that enhance the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) ability to monitor objects in Earth orbit—particularly satellites and potential threats from near-Earth objects or adversarial systems.
This initiative directly supports NORAD’s modernization goals by improving real-time situational awareness across North America’s air and space domains. The contract builds upon MDA’s existing work with the Sapphire satellite mission—the first dedicated Canadian military satellite launched in 2013—and leverages new commercial technologies developed since then.
Capabilities Delivered: Tracking Objects Across All Orbits
The enhanced service package includes:
- Persistent tracking of resident space objects (RSOs) across low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), geostationary orbit (GEO), and highly elliptical orbits (HEO).
- Data fusion from multiple commercial sensors and proprietary algorithms for orbital prediction.
- Near-real-time reporting on conjunction risks (potential collisions), uncooperative object maneuvers, and satellite breakups.
- Support for allied integration, including data sharing with NORAD partners such as the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM).
MDA’s system is designed to complement government-owned sensors by filling coverage gaps—especially during periods when national assets are unavailable or degraded due to weather or technical issues. The service also contributes to early warning functions related to anti-satellite weapons (ASATs), missile launches through infrared tracking correlation, and debris field mapping from kinetic events.
MDA’s Role in Canada’s Space Surveillance Ecosystem
MDA has played a central role in Canada’s military space initiatives for over two decades. In addition to operating the Sapphire spacecraft—which feeds data into the U.S. Space Surveillance Network—MDA is also a key industrial partner on RADARSAT-2 and RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), which provide synthetic aperture radar imagery used for maritime surveillance and Arctic sovereignty enforcement.
The company has also invested heavily in its ground-based optical sensor network through partnerships with international observatories. These assets feed into its commercial Space Domain Awareness-as-a-Service platform offered globally under MDA’s Geointelligence business line.
This latest contract reflects growing demand from Western militaries for persistent monitoring of orbital behaviors amid rising concerns over counterspace threats from Russia and China—both of which have demonstrated rendezvous proximity operations (RPOs) near allied satellites over the past five years.
NORAD Modernization Context: A Continental Imperative
The timing of this announcement aligns with broader NORAD modernization efforts initiated jointly by Canada and the United States following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As part of this initiative—backed by CAD $38 billion over two decades from Ottawa—Canada is upgrading its contributions to continental defense across multiple domains:
- Over-the-horizon radar systems under development by Raytheon Technologies for Arctic coverage;
- C4ISR upgrades, including multi-domain command centers integrating airspace, cyber, land, sea, and now increasingly space inputs;
- Tactical datalink interoperability improvements, such as Link-16 enhancements;
- Sensors supporting hypersonic missile detection, where orbital tracking plays a crucial role due to high-altitude trajectories.
MDA’s expanded services will feed into these architecture layers by providing high-fidelity orbital data that can be fused with terrestrial radar tracks or missile warning systems like SBIRS or future Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) constellations operated by the U.S. Space Force.
A Commercial-Government Hybrid Model Emerges
The use of commercial providers like MDA reflects a broader trend toward hybrid architectures in military space operations. Rather than relying solely on sovereign satellites—which are costly and slow to deploy—defense ministries are increasingly contracting agile private firms that can offer scalable data-as-a-service models using existing infrastructure.
This model offers several advantages:
- Rapid deployment: Commercial networks can be brought online faster than government programs;
- Diversity of sensors: Combining optical telescopes with radar arrays improves persistence;
- Cost efficiency: Subscription-based models reduce capital expenditure;
- Sovereign control: Data remains under national authority even if collected commercially.
A similar approach is being pursued by allies such as Australia via EOS Space Systems; France through ArianeGroup’s GEOTracker; and the U.S., which increasingly integrates LeoLabs’ LEO tracking into its Joint Task Force-Space Defense operations center at Schriever SFB.
The Road Ahead: Strategic Implications for Canada’s Military Posture
This investment marks another step toward operationalizing Canada’s long-term defense strategy outlined in “Strong, Secure, Engaged” (2017) and reaffirmed under recent Arctic sovereignty initiatives. By bolstering its capacity for independent threat detection—and reducing reliance on foreign sources—Canada enhances both deterrence credibility and alliance interoperability within NATO frameworks.
MDA’s upgraded services could also support future Canadian decisions around launching sovereign satellite constellations focused on ISR or missile early warning missions—a possibility floated during Parliamentary hearings on NORAD modernization funding allocations earlier this year.
If proven effective operationally within NORAD frameworks over the coming years, this hybrid model may serve as a blueprint for other middle powers seeking cost-effective entry points into strategic-level space surveillance without building full sovereign constellations upfront.
