New product provides enhanced MILSATCOM capabilities to maintain the integrity of contested space-based operations
TORONTO, Sept. 10, 2026 /CNW/ -- MDA Space Ltd. (TSX: MDA) (NYSE: MDA), a trusted mission partner to the global defence and space industry, introduces MDA AURORA™ BLACK, an extension of the company's MDA AURORA™ software-defined satellite product line, purpose-built to deliver secure, resilient, and agile communications for government and military customers.
Building on existing features that ensure flexibility, scalability and performance, MDA AURORA™ BLACK adds layers of protection and resilience against cyber, physical and other evolving threats, ensuring reliable connectivity for defence operations.
With enhanced features such as a secure end-to-end connection, onboard anti-jamming capabilities, resistance to GPS spoofing, and perimeter and proximity sensing, MDA AURORA™ BLACK offers elevated mission assurance in contested environments.
"Defence organizations are operating in increasingly complex and contested environments where connectivity is mission-critical and threats to it are real," said Mike Greenley, CEO of MDA Space. "MDA AURORA™ BLACK is designed to bring the agility of our software-defined satellite product into the defence domain, helping countries maintain tactical and strategic communications that are essential to data-centric operations. High-volume production will ensure defence departments globally can achieve near term, secure, sovereign military satellite communications."
MDA AURORA™ BLACK responds to growing international demand for sovereign and resilient space-based defence communications infrastructure and is available across MDA AURORA™ direct-to-device and broadband product lines.
"Sovereign, defence-specific SATCOM capabilities are a core part of modern military operations around the globe, and, as governments increase their investment in SATCOM-enabled defence capabilities, defence optimized capabilities like those MDA AURORA™ BLACK offers will be critical to securing assured command and control," said Nathan de Ruiter, Senior Partner at consulting & market intelligence firm Novaspace. "The numbers tell the story. Based on NovaSpace research, in 2023, 107 proprietary defence satellites were launched globally, with more than $US40 billion of government space defence and security expenditures contracted to industry. Companies like MDA Space that are bringing sovereign, secure, high-volume satellite solutions to market are well positioned to meet this demand."
For more information, visit mda.space/aurora
ABOUT MDA SPACE
Building the space between proven and possible, MDA Space (TSX:MDA) (NYSE: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 global MDA Space team of more than 4,000 space experts 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 mda.space
Noah Note: I would have gone with Scarlet, or maybe a nice Magenta. Aurora Mahogany…. I am available for naming products folks, FYI. Anywho, a natural evolution of the Aurora Bus, especially as MDA gets deeper and deeper as a multinational defence prime across North America, Asia, Middle East, and Europe.
The Aurora will form the foundation of the Lightspeed network, and while it is a very impressive and capable product, it is not a militarized constellation able to be survivable against the growing range of ASAT threats coming from our adverseries. That isn't just Russia or China either. Increasingly, Space Denial is becoming accessible, like many things.
Between complex jamming, Cyber targeting, High-Energy ASAT systems, growing networks of Ground and Space-Based targeting and tracking networks, Space-based Sabotage through maneuverable space vehicles (Co-Orbital ASATs, Grapple-Capable Vehicles) or just classic ramming. All of which are presenting increasingly available and affordable means for adverseries to tsrget critical space infrastructure.
We talked about that before in the need for Domestic Launch capacity but it also includes habing hardened, survivable constellations that are able to survive the opening stages of a conflict. A constellation with no redundancy, no resilience is effectively off the table the moment a serious conflict breaks out. It has value, don't get me wrong, but in a serious conflict there will be little one can do to ensure it's Survivability.
For MDA this is an obvious, natural move on expanding the Aurora family with a defence-specific product. It's a no-brainer it would happen. No one would question that. Keeping in mind, as we have discussed before, MDA is in a very favorable position to deliver on future requirements, esepcially along the SATCOM domain where Canada has several major projects all looking to deliver on a fairly demanding 2032 timeline (if all goes well)
That includes the four Worldwide Communications projects:
WSC-WB - Worldwide Satellite Communications Wideband: Provides the CAF with continued guaranteed access to high data rate wideband satellite communications worldwide. It is the big-pipe service carrying ISR feeds and tactical C4ISR traffic, and it will be supported by a new, sovereign constellation of four satellites plus an on-orbit spare with ground stations.
WSC-NB - Worldwide Satellite Communications Narrowband: MUOS replacement, providing narrowband voice and data for handhelds and manpacks from 70 degrees North to 70 degrees South. There is still a bit of a debate, last I heard, between reusing existing infrastructure or going with new, dedicated infrastructure.
WSC-PMT - Protected MILSATCOM Tactical: Aims to provide Canada with a secure, jam-resistant communications capability between the operational authority and the CAF worldwide. It is the protected link that is supposed to keep working through adversarial actions. It’s the tactical half of Protected, deliberately built at a protection level above standard milsatcom but below full hardening.
WSC-PMS - Protected MILSATCOM Strategic: The strategic half of Protected. It aims to deliver assured, protected connectivity between the national command authority and deployed forces at the highest threat levels, with the explicit requirement that it must survive and function during and after a nuclear event.
These four, along with the Lightspeed-based ESCP-P, form the Space-based basis of the future Canadian Signal Network. They are the exact militarized, layered network of constellations that provide us resilience in Space, and ensures that Canada can remain cresible in future conflicts.
All of that, of course, is running on that tight timeline of six years. That ain't easy, and it's ehy a comoany like MDA, with an establishment and ecosystem to muster, has such a critical advantage over others. Aurora Black just cements that deeper, and sets up the likely basis for our Space-based communications network.
Isn't to say others can't, won't, or shouldn't compete mind you. It just makes it a fight.