Editor’s Note
Welcome to Issue 16 of the In Defence of Canada Briefing.
This week’s briefing highlights an expected surge in infrastructure commitments aimed at securing Canada’s frontiers. Our Lead story covers the Defence Investment Agency’s finalized $2.5 billion agreement with Australia for over-the-horizon radar technology to track hypersonic threats. Additionally, the Canadian Space Agency has moved its $688 million RADARSAT replenishment contract with MDA Space into the build phase, ensuring uninterrupted sovereign Arctic surveillance.
However, relying entirely on foreign infrastructure remains a vulnerability. Our Feature Analysis on the recent NASA Inspector General audit reveals severe U.S. spaceport capacity crunches by 2028, reinforcing the urgent case for developing sovereign Canadian launch sites like Spaceport Nova Scotia. As Wesley Wark’s provocative Guest Opinion in The Walrus questions Canada’s long-term reliance on NORAD, balancing allied integration with domestic self-reliance is becoming a defining national security challenge.
Thanks for reading.
Marc Boucher
Editor-in-Chief
SpaceQ Media Inc.
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The Lead
The Canadian government has finalized a $2.5 billion agreement with Australia and BAE Systems Australia to acquire advanced hardware and signal processing technology for the Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) program. Managed by the newly independent Defence Investment Agency, the government-to-government deal bypasses traditional procurement bottlenecks to secure mature technology derived from Australia’s Jindalee Operational Radar Network. Engineering work begins July 1, 2026, with initial operational capability targeted for December 2029.
Unlike conventional line-of-sight systems, over-the-horizon radar bounces high-frequency radio waves off the ionosphere to track low-flying cruise missiles and emerging hypersonic threats thousands of kilometres away. Part of a broader $6 billion NORAD modernization initiative, the contract mandates a direct technology transfer and requires BAE Systems Australia to integrate domestic companies into the supply chain. Canadian engineers will work with their Australian counterparts to harden the imported hardware, ensuring the sensitive transmitter and receiver arrays can withstand severe Arctic environments.
Read the full report at SpaceQ
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Feature Analysis: NASA Launch Bottlenecks Reinforce Need for Canadian Spaceports
From The Observer column: An aging and overburdened U.S. launch infrastructure network is presenting a massive strategic opportunity for Canadian domestic spaceport development. A newly released NASA Office of Inspector General audit reveals severe capacity constraints and degraded infrastructure at primary American launch sites, warning that facilities are projected to reach operational capacity limits between 2028 and 2029.
Infrastructure Constraints South of the Border
The NASA audit details substantial deterioration across common-use launch infrastructure at the Kennedy Space Center, with critical power and gas supply systems operating well beyond their designed lifespans. Simultaneously, the agency projects annual launches supported by Kennedy will skyrocket to 268 by 2030, driven predominantly by commercial demand. Vandenberg Space Force Base in California faces similar strain, with military officials projecting West Coast launch cadences will climb from 66 missions in 2025 to 150 within five years, stressing 1960s-era logistics and environmental limits.
The Strategic Case for Sovereign Launch
This bottleneck comes exactly as global demand for payload deployment reaches record levels. A recent market forecast from Novaspace projects that 16,900 small satellites will require launch services between 2026 and 2035—equating to an average of 230 tonnes entering low Earth orbit annually.
For the Canadian defence and commercial space sectors, the congestion south of the border reinforces the urgent case for domestic alternatives. While the federal government recently secured sovereign launch capacity for the Department of National Defence via a 10-year lease at Spaceport Nova Scotia, this single pad does not support civil launches. To build true resilience—and avoid delays caused by accidents at congested foreign pads—Canada must rapidly expand funding for civil and commercial launches at sites like Spaceport Nova Scotia and the Atlantic Spaceport Complex in Newfoundland.
At a minimum, Canada should target having three operational launch pads ready by 2028 to support domestic civil, defence, and international demand. The capacity crunch is clear; the only remaining question is whether Canadian capital will step up to fill the void.
Read the full analysis at SpaceQ
Tactical Briefs
MDA Space Secures $688M to Build RADARSAT Replenishment Satellite: The Canadian Space Agency has awarded a $688 million contract to MDA Space to build and launch a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) replenishment satellite. Moving the project into the full build phase, the new spacecraft will be based on MDA’s CHORUS bus and assembled in Montreal. The satellite will integrate with the existing RADARSAT Constellation Mission to prevent a critical data gap as the original 2019 assets approach the end of their lifespan. This ensures the Department of National Defence and civil agencies maintain sovereign, uninterrupted SAR imagery for Arctic surveillance, maritime tracking, and disaster response. Read more at SpaceQ
NorthStar’s $300M SPAC Filing Details Launch Delays and Defence Focus: NorthStar Earth & Space has filed its F-4 registration with the SEC for a proposed $300 million USD merger with Viking Acquisition Corp. The filing reveals the financial realities of building its space domain awareness (SDA) network, detailing an ongoing commercial arbitration with Spire Global over underperforming host satellites that led to a $10.2 million CAD impairment charge. Consequently, NorthStar has shifted its next sensor deployment to late 2027 or early 2028. Generating 100% of its current revenue from government contracts, the company will increasingly rely on the defence sector to fund its operations—underscored by its recent $40 million data agreement with the RCAF. Read more at SpaceQ
Japanese Trade Mission Yields Allied Satellite Contracts: A recent Canadian trade mission to Japan—facilitated by the newly implemented Canada-Japan Equipment and Technology Transfer Agreement (ETTA)—resulted in key defence contracts for domestic space firms. MDA Space was selected by Mitsubishi Electric to supply a dynamic, anti-jamming digital payload and antennas for a next-generation defence communications satellite ordered by the Japan Ministry of Defense to replace the DSN-2. Concurrently, Montreal’s RSAT Space signed a partnership agreement with Japanese aerospace firm WARSPACE to develop optical laser communications. The agreements highlight the increasing integration of Canadian hardware into allied Indo-Pacific defence architectures. Read more at SpaceQ
Qubic Raises $2.5M to Scale Cryogenic Quantum Amplifiers: Sherbrooke-based Qubic has closed an oversubscribed $2.5 million USD seed round led by Two Small Fish Ventures. The funding will commercialize its low-noise cryogenic amplifiers, which address a critical thermal bottleneck in quantum computing. Traditional semiconductor amplifiers generate excessive heat that limits the scaling of quantum machines. Qubic’s novel Kinetic Inductance Traveling Wave Parametric Amplifiers drastically reduce this heat output without sacrificing fidelity. The firm will also use the capital to build a radio frequency quantum sensing platform specifically targeting aerospace and military applications, including threat detection. Read more at SpaceQ
CAF Deploys for Multinational Exercise Valiant Shield: The Canadian Armed Forces are participating in Exercise VALIANT SHIELD 2026, a massive U.S.-led biennial field exercise in Hawaii and Guam. Under Operation HORIZON, HMCS Charlottetown will conduct anti-submarine warfare training while 2 Wing Bagotville executes multinational Airfield Damage Repair operations in Guam to practice restoring critical expeditionary infrastructure. The exercise—bringing together forces from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand—aims to test integrated multi-domain operations across sea, air, land, and cyberspace to ensure interoperability in the increasingly contested Indo-Pacific theatre. Read more at DND
Global Watch
China’s Escalating Space Debris Threat: China has abandoned 51 spent rocket bodies in low Earth orbit since January 2021, accounting for 86 percent of the global number of rocket bodies left in LEO, according to a new report by LeoLabs. The massive accumulation of uncontrolled mass creates a significant collision hazard for military and commercial constellations, with researchers warning that the risk is rising as Beijing aggressively launches its Qianfan mega-constellation. Read more at Breaking Defense
Japan to Rename Air Force in Space Push: Reflecting a rapidly broadening mission set, Japan’s parliament has approved a bill to officially rename the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to the “Japan Aerospace Self-Defense Force,” effective April 2027. The historic shift highlights Tokyo’s increasing focus on space domain awareness and securing orbital communications to counter regional ballistic missile threats from China and North Korea. Read more at Breaking Defense
Quantum Space Secures Orbital Refueling Contract: Quantum Space has won a Pentagon contract to develop a next-generation fuel-transfer vehicle for the U.S. military. The project aims to establish a resilient orbital logistics architecture, allowing national security payloads to refuel in space and significantly extend their operational lifespans and maneuverability in contested environments. Read more at SpaceNews
Space Force Reopens Bidding for Control Antennas: The U.S. Space Force is actively seeking fresh bidders to upgrade its global network of satellite-control antennas. The solicitation is part of a broader, urgent effort by the Pentagon to modernize its aging ground segment and ensure secure, uninterrupted command and control of critical orbital assets. Read more at SpaceNews
EU Breaks Ground on GOVSATCOM Hub in Germany: Europe’s sovereign satellite communications program progressed this week with the groundbreaking of the EU GOVSATCOM Hub Site in Cologne, Germany. The site will ensure continuous, resilient communications for EU military and security missions, pooling governmental satellite capacity across member states while serving as a foundational precursor to the massive IRIS² secure connectivity constellation. Read more at the European Commission
Senegal Accelerates Military Space Ambitions: Bringing the strategic space race to West Africa, Senegal hosted the first Franco-Senegalese space seminar at the Dakar air base on June 23. Bringing together senior military officials, experts from the French Space Command, and the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), the summit formally signals Senegal’s strategic intent to emerge as a leading military and commercial space actor in the region under French guidance. Read more at Modern Ghana
Guest Opinion: Why Canada Needs to Walk Away from NORAD
In a provocative new commentary published in The Walrus, intelligence and security expert Wesley Wark argues that Canada must fundamentally rethink its continental defence posture, going so far as to suggest the nation should transition away from its decades-old reliance on NORAD.
Wark asserts that while the binational aerospace and maritime warning agreement once served Canada’s interests during the Cold War, the geopolitical and bilateral landscape has shifted drastically. He suggests that the growing political and strategic divergence between Ottawa and Washington means deep defence integration now risks eroding both Canadian sovereignty and security.
Rather than continuing to center domestic defence policy—and massive procurement budgets—solely around NORAD modernization, Wark advocates for a radical revisioning. He calls for a new strategic framework that heavily emphasizes sovereign Canadian capabilities (like independent sensing and satellite networks) while anchoring the country’s collective security efforts more firmly within NATO’s emerging Arctic and Euro-Atlantic missions.
Read the full commentary at The Walrus
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