MDA Ltd. is a Canadian space technology company headquartered in

Brampton, Ontario Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it ...

, Canada, that provides geointelligence, robotics & space operations, and satellite systems.

History

MDA (formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates) was founded in 1969 by

John S. MacDonald John Spencer MacDonald, (1936–2019) was a Canadian engineer, businessman, and academic. He was co-founder of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), an aerospace, information systems, and technology company. MacDonald served as the chancell ...

and Vern Dettwiler in the basement of MacDonald's Vancouver home. The company became a subsidiary of

Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...

(OSC) from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on 17 November 1995. MDA was primary contractor for, and took ownership of, the RADARSAT-2 Earth observation satellite. MDA bought the space robotics division of

Spar Aerospace SPAR Aerospace was a Canadian aerospace company. It produced equipment for the Canadian Space Agency to be used in cooperation with NASA's Space Shuttle program, most notably the Canadarm, a remote manipulator system. The company went through a s ...

—manufacturer of the

Canadarm Canadarm or Canadarm1 (officially Shuttle Remote Manipulator System or SRMS, also SSRMS) is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre, and capture payloads. After the Space Shuttle ''Columbia ...

—in March 1999, renaming it MD Robotics. The company completed the

Mobile Servicing System The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supp ...

(including the Canadarm2) for the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

. OSC sold its entire stake in 2001. Nearly 70% was sold to a group of Canadian investors; the

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (french: Régime de retraite des enseignantes et des enseignants de l'Ontario) is an independent organization responsible for administering defined-benefit pensions for school teachers of the Canadian pr ...

(OTPP) became the largest shareholder with a 29% stake. In the 2000s, MDA experienced difficulties winning contracts in the United States. In 2008, an attempt to sell the space division to

Alliant Techsystems Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) was an American aerospace, defense, and sporting goods company with its headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The company operated in 22 states, Puerto Rico, and other countries. ATK's ...

was blocked by the Canadian government on national security grounds. The subsequent lack of Canadian business led to layoffs. The real estate information business was sold in early 2011. MDA bought Space Systems/Loral from Loral Space & Communications in 2012., leading to OTPP reducing its stake to less than 10%. MDA bought

DigitalGlobe DigitalGlobe is an American commercial vendor of space imagery and geospatial content, and operator of civilian remote sensing spacecraft. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange on 14 May 2009, selling 14.7 million shares at US ...

in 2017, and rebranded as

Maxar Technologies Maxar Technologies Inc. is a space technology company headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, United States, specializing in manufacturing communication, Earth observation, radar, and on-orbit servicing satellites, satellite products, and relat ...

.; the company moved its headquarters to Colorado, United States. On 8 April 2020, Toronto-based investment firm Northern Private Capital bought the MDA assets from Maxar for (). and named the new company MDA; the company is headquartered in Canada. On 9 December 2020, The

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; french: Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The president is Lisa Campbell, who took the position on September 3, 202 ...

(CSA) awarded MDA a contract to develop and construct the Canadarm3 as part of Canada's contribution to the NASA-led

Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is the first planned extraterrestrial space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, and short-term habitation module for government-agency astr ...

Program. The contract is for the first phase of the program and is worth C$22.8 million, with options for follow-on phases. The contract was further confirmed on December 16, 2020, when NASA and the CSA announced the finalised agreement to collaborate on the Gateway, which included the Canadarm3, the installation of two scientific instruments and commitment to provide two crew positions for Canadian astronauts. On 7 April 2021, MDA became a publicly traded company on the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; french: Bourse de Toronto) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in the ...

trading under the symbol MDA.

Facilities

Canada

Brampton, ON Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...

(HQ) * Dartmouth, NS * Kanata, ON * Montreal, QC * Ottawa, ON * Richmond, BC

International offices

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, eas ...

, United Kingdom *

Houston, TX Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

References

{{Authority control Aerospace companies of Canada Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Space industry companies of Canada Companies based in Brampton Manufacturing companies established in 1969 Canadian companies established in 1969 1969 establishments in British Columbia Manufacturing companies based in Ontario