MDA Space’s stock rose on Thursday after the company reported strong increased revenue, and suggested that it’s eyeing a starry future and continuing work on the Canadarm’s successor as nations ramp up a new, sovereign space race.
The Brampton, Ont.-based company reported a net income of just under $30 million CAD in the first quarter of this year, with revenue up 32 percent year-over-year to $464 million. The company’s stock, $MDA, was up more than three percent following the news, and more than 70 percent year-to-date on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
“The notion of sovereign capability is one of the single largest driving factors in the current market.”
Mike Greenley, MDA Space
During the company’s earnings call, executives highlighted wins such as signing a deal to become an approved supplier for the US Missile Defence Agency, a memorandum of understanding with the Korean military, and a contract with Canada’s Department of National Defence for a dedicated launch pad at Spaceport Nova Scotia. MDA Space also officially entered the US market in March, with an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.
CEO Mike Greenley said the new space race for governments to have independent launch capabilities and satellite networks, rather than rely on other nations, has presented a “solid opportunity.”
“As you go around the world, the notion of sovereign capability is one of the single largest driving factors in the current market … the number of nations that want to consider their own constellations for earth observation, for communications,” Greenley told investors during the call.
The bulk of MDA’s revenue in Q1 came from its satellite systems, at $313 million, up from $222 million last year. Its robotics and space operations division brought in nearly $92 million, and geointelligence just under $60 million.
Greenley noted that MDA has identified $40 billion in opportunities over the next five years. The company is expecting that, globally, from 2025 to 2034, between 40,000 and 50,000 satellites will be launched. MDA says it could assist with or provide 20-30 percent of those, with opportunities ranging from defence to communications to earth observation.
He also said that space exploration missions are expected to increase by 185 percent over the next decade.
One of those future space exploration missions, however, might look slightly different than MDA had originally planned.
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the Canadarm2, the International Space Station’s robotic arm, which MDA designed and built. The company has been hard at work on its successor since 2020.
But in March, NASA announced it no longer plans to build the Lunar Gateway, a space station that was intended to be the base for future moon missions and home to the new Canadarm3. Instead, it plans to build a base directly on the lunar surface.
Greenley said that the MDA team is incredibly proud of that heritage, as Canadarm2 continues to operate and perform critical tasks, and that they’re continuing to work “full steam ahead” on Canadarm3.
“There are a series of conversations occurring in parallel about potentially pivoting [Canadarm3’s] capability toward the lunar surface,” Greenley said. He added that the company and Canadian Space Agency both “need to ensure that it’s driving toward the most desirable outcome.”
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MDA is forecasting another 10 percent in revenue growth this year. It plans to spend between $225 and $275 million to support the expansion of its Montreal production facility and investments in chip development.
Last year, MDA acquired Israeli chipmaker SatixFy, and last month it shipped the first of its space-grade chips for digital beamforming, which shapes the broadcasts for satellite communications.
While other space companies have pushed the idea of dedicated data centres in orbit, MDA appears to be more focused on using those chips to increase onboard processing capabilities on satellites. Greenley said he hasn’t really considered the viability of space-based data centres, but knows some technical considerations haven’t been solved.
“We’re seeing an increased focus in space compute, increased levels of computing power in orbit to be able to do things—onboard processors on satellites, processors for earth observation, comms,” Greenley said. “Instead of just transmitting things to the ground [we’ll be able to] do more in orbit.”
Feature image courtesy MDA Space.