MDA Space wins over $100 million deal to build IRIS2 satellite antennas

what happened

Thales Alenia Space issued MDA Space an authorization to proceed worth more than $100 million Canadian dollars ($72 million) to supply digital antenna subsystems for 66 IRIS2 Layer 1 low Earth orbit satellites, set to launch in 2029, per Via Satellite and Canadian Manufacturing. MDA will design, manufacture and test its AURORA broadband digital phased-array antennas and digital antenna controller, with digital beamforming capabilities, at its Montreal facility. MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley called the agreement to deliver the Layer 1 satellites' antenna subsystems "a landmark moment for MDA Space." The agreement is expected to enter MDA's backlog in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2026, with the definitive contract still subject to finalization. Canada and the European Union separately issued a joint statement the same day, Oct. 30, outlining plans to explore wider Canadian participation in the IRIS2 programme, per European Spaceflight.

why it matters

A nine-figure-scale antenna subcontract for IRIS2's first operational layer adds to MDA's backlog and underscores Europe's continued reliance on a non-EU supplier for advanced digital beamforming hardware even as IRIS2 is framed as a sovereignty program; resellers and competing antenna suppliers bidding into later IRIS2 phases now have a pricing and technology benchmark to work against, and the same-day Canada-EU statement signals the antenna deal may be an opening move toward a broader Canadian role in the constellation.

signal-to-noise

quick facts

Companies

MDA Space, Thales Alenia Space

Category

contract

Impact

notable

SNR

4 / 5

Event date

2026-10-30

Published

2026-10-30 22:59 UTC