MDA Secures IRIS² Antenna Work; Space Index Drops 2.2 Per Cent

MDA Space announced on Oct. 30 it will build digital antennas for the first 66 satellites of IRIS², the European Union’s planned secure-communications constellation. The initial agreement with Thales Alenia Space is worth more than $100 million, with the satellites due to launch in 2029.

The announcement came the same day Canada and the EU agreed at their Montreal summit to start exploratory talks on IRIS².

MDA’s defence business, 49North, also signed a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 26 with UNWAVE, a Ukrainian counter-drone manufacturer, to work together on producing and supporting counter-drone systems. The companies gave no value or timeline for the arrangement.

The SpaceQ Canadian Space Index fell 2.2 per cent to 93.08 for the week ending Oct. 30, its second consecutive weekly decline. The S&P/TSX Composite slipped 0.5 per cent over the same period. Baylin Technologies drove most of the damage with an 18.2 per cent drop; because every company carries the same weight in the index, Baylin’s fall outweighed gains at Intermap Technologies, Maritime Launch Services and Magellan Aerospace. C-COM Satellite Systems was unchanged.

Among other index components, Magellan Aerospace closed at $33.30, up 1.5 per cent for the week and 80.8 per cent year-to-date. Maritime Launch Services ended at $0.47, up 2.2 per cent weekly and 67.9 per cent YTD. MDA Space itself closed at $38.00, down 1.7 per cent for the week but up 42.6 per cent this year. Calian Group fell 1.6 per cent to $82.98, and 5N Plus slipped 1.2 per cent to $25.93. Intermap Technologies rose 5.3 per cent to $0.79, though it remains down 57.3 per cent YTD.

Telesat pushed back the start of global service on its Lightspeed constellation by three months to the end of the second quarter of 2028, announcing the delay alongside its third-quarter results on Oct. 29. Before the results, the shares had risen 5.0 per cent on Oct. 26 and 4.8 per cent on Oct. 27, reaching $65.82. They then fell 6.9 per cent on Oct. 29 and 6.1 per cent more on Oct. 30, ending the week down 6.6 per cent at $55.84. The shares remain up 41.1 per cent this year.

MDA Space is still assembling the first two Lightspeed satellites, which will now launch no earlier than June 2027 on another customer’s Falcon 9. Chief executive Dan Goldberg said Arctic service for Canada’s military will still start at the end of the first quarter of 2028.

Telesat’s geostationary subsidiary still owes about $2.4 billion in December, with the first payment due Dec. 6. Goldberg would not discuss a settlement proposal that the plaintiffs in the lenders’ lawsuit made on Oct. 23.

Citations

MDA lands IRIS² antenna work as space index falls 2.2 per cent — spaceq.ca

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