TORONTO, March 24, 2026 /CNW/ - MDA Space Ltd. (TSX: MDA) (NYSE: MDA), a trusted mission partner to the rapidly expanding global space industry, today issued the following statement in response NASA's changes to the Artemis mission.
"MDA Space is monitoring NASA's ongoing discussions regarding changes to the Artemis mission as part of a renewed focus on accelerating a return to the Lunar surface. NASA has announced that it intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained Lunar surface operations, and to repurpose equipment and leverage international partner commitments for use on the Lunar surface.
MDA Space management reiterates that the company's Canadarm3 program associated with the Artemis program is a contract with the Canadian Space Agency and not with NASA or the US government. There has been no change to any MDA Space contract and our work on the Canadarm3 program continues to progress. We remain fully focused on executing our existing contracts and advancing our commercial opportunities to expand further.
As a reminder, the Canadarm3 contract serves multiple markets including space agency and commercial opportunities. As a result, the Canadarm3 architecture was developed with flexibility to support multiple use cases, including in low Earth orbit, in cislunar space, and on the Lunar surface. Canadarm3 is currently in the design phase of the program providing flexibility to pivot to an alternate operating environment.
MDA Space welcomes efforts to accelerate the Artemis mission and the broad, sustained new market opportunity that a return to the Lunar surface represents for our company. We are in continuous dialogue with the Canadian Space Agency and expect that Canada will continue to contribute robotics technology to the Artemis mission."
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects the company's current expectations regarding future events. Such forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, possible market opportunities for MDA Space, Canada's future contributions to the Artemis mission and the potential for Canadarm3 to support alternate use cases. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by MDA Space in light of management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of MDA Space to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including without limitation, economic, political and geopolitical conditions; policies, priorities, mandates and funding levels of government entities; the termination of our customer contracts; the other risks and uncertainties detailed under the "Risk Factors" section of MDA Space's annual information form dated March 4, 2026.
Although MDA Space believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect and there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with the forward-looking statements. There are a number of additional risks and uncertainties affecting or that could affect MDA Space, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those described in, expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information included within this press release. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, MDA Space is not under any obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
ABOUT MDA SPACE
Building the space between proven and possible, MDA Space (TSX:MDA) is a trusted mission partner to the global defence and space industry. A robotics, satellite systems and geointelligence pioneer with a 55-year+ story of world firsts and more than 450 missions, MDA Space is a global leader in communications satellites, Earth and space observation, and space exploration and infrastructure. The MDA Space team of more than 4,000 space experts in Canada, the US and the UK has the knowledge and know-how to turn an audacious customer vision into an achievable mission – bringing to bear a one-of-a-kind mix of experience, engineering excellence and wide-eyed wonder that's been in our DNA since day one. For those who dream big and push boundaries on the ground and in the stars to change the world for the better, we'll take you there. For more information, visit www.mda.space.
Noah Note: A sensible update given Gateways cancelation. I will take a moment though to say that, perhaps, investing a large chunk of our civil space efforts into supporting a volatile foreign program, especially when Canadian programs such as the Lunar Rover have now been canned maybe isn't the best idea.
The CSA should not be merely cuffed to foreign programs, nor just an arm to defence. It needs its own programs, its own contributions to the scientific community to thrive. I think of things like the Cosmological Advanced Survey Telescope for Optical and ultraviolet Research (CASTOR) proposal, an ambitious attempt to build a Canadian Observatory capability not reliant on European or American partners.
There is surely more proposals, more idea out there that can contribute and inspire. Hopefully there is a pathway to such things.
It was my understanding that the gateway was a postponement, not a cancellation. Didn't they say they would be returning to it at a later date after the moonbase is built?