Everyone really is getting into defense—including Canadian satellite companies. This week, two of the country’s space giants—MDA Space and Telesat—announced plans to launch fresh satellite constellations in 2026 to support Canada’s growing defense needs.
The news comes as Canada ramps up its air and missile defense posture and looks poised to collaborate with the United States on Golden Dome. Both MDA and Telesat said this week that their satellites will be well-positioned to support that push.
All together now: Satellites are critical to any kind of continental defense—handling everything from launch detection and tracking to targeting and battle damage assessment. They’re also essential for comms.
MDA’s CHORUS satellite constellation—set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 mid-next year—will operate in two radar bands, allowing it to see through cloud cover at high resolution. That’ll be useful for spotting nefarious activity on the ground: In June, the Canadian government announced it would use CHORUS to monitor illegal “dark vessels.”
And there’s more to come. MDA CEO Mike Greenley hinted during the company’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday that additional defense contracts could be on the horizon. “There is opportunity for us in other parts of the world,” he said.
Greenley didn’t name specifics, but pointed to the obvious: both the US and Europe are boosting space budgets to support troops. (Remember the Space Force budget request?)
Need for speed: Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation, also launching in 2026, will consist of nearly 200 satellites (built by MDA) focused specifically on defense customers.
Lightspeed will cover Canada’s sparsely populated northern regions—prime defense territory. That visibility could help spot Arctic threats from China or Russia early, which is a growing Canadian priority: Last month, Ottawa announced a partnership with Australia to upgrade its Arctic over-the-horizon radar to track hypersonic missiles.
“Lightspeed is very well-positioned to meet the government’s requirements in terms of northern sovereignty,” Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg told analysts during the company’s Q2 earnings call on Wednesday.
Golden opportunity: This all comes as Canadian media reported Thursday that the government has “removed all restrictions on air and missile defence of Canada”—a move that opens the door for collaboration on Golden Dome.
Telesat says it’s ready. “I think that Lightspeed could make valuable contributions,” Goldberg said of America’s planned missile defense system. Lightspeed not only provides broadband connectivity, but flies nearly three times higher than Starlink at 1,300 km. From that perch, it could spot threats and relay data to military customers faster.
MDA didn’t mention Golden Dome explicitly, but emphasized that the Canadian government continues to prioritize observation and comms in its defense strategy. “I would expect those areas to continue to be focus areas for them,” Greenley said—especially since all militaries “want to do things faster” these days.