Two Canadian space companies signed three agreements with Indian partners on Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu’s trade mission to Mumbai and Bengaluru last week, a small share of the 34 deals worth close to $300 million that Global Affairs Canada (GAC) says the mission produced.
Sidhu cast the two countries as partners rather than rivals at a press conference on the commercial agreements. “Canada and India don’t compete with each other. We complement one another,” he said, according to ANI.
However, the two countries do compete in parts of the market. NewSpace India Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), sells launches and Earth observation services commercially. MDA Space has signed early customers in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific for CHORUS, a radar imaging constellation that will add two new satellites to go with RADARSAT-2. The launch is scheduled on a SpaceX Falcon 9 late this year. Canada is also working toward its own launch capability, which could eventually compete with India’s.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a larger space goal in March, committing the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and ISRO to a new working agreement on atmospheric science, space robotics, human spaceflight and quantum communication. India’s High Commission in Ottawa confirmed Friday that Modi will visit Canada on Dec. 11 and 12, and Carney has said the trip will include stops in Toronto and Ottawa.
Satellite communications and Earth observation deals
Comtech Satellite Network Technologies Corp., the Canadian satellite-networking unit of Nasdaq-listed Comtech Telecommunications, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Rangsons Aerospace to work on advanced satellite communications. The unit grew out of Comtech’s 2021 purchase of UHP Networks and focuses on very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks.
Montreal’s RSAT Space Canada signed two MOUs, one with JAIN University to set up an incubator for artificial intelligence, quantum technology and satellite systems, and one with Lamhas Space to develop Earth observation capabilities. RSAT took its current name in December 2025 and is led by Gurvinder Chohan, who previously ran commercial operations for MDA Space and Maxar’s Asia-Pacific business. It has signed several agreements this year, including a partnership with Japan’s WARSPACE on optical laser communications and a deal to sell launches on South Korean INNOSPACE rockets in Canada.
Agency agreement dates to 1996
The CSA and ISRO signed their first cooperation agreement in 1996 and renewed it in 2003 and 2015. Their biggest joint project was AstroSat, India’s first dedicated astronomy satellite, which launched in September 2015 carrying an ultraviolet telescope built in collaboration with the CSA.
India has also launched 12 Canadian satellites on its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), starting with University of Toronto nanosatellites in 2008. They include Sapphire, the Department of National Defence’s first dedicated military satellite, in 2013, and Telesat’s first low Earth orbit test satellite in January 2018. The last was Kepler Communications’ CASE satellite, in November 2018.
The joint statement Carney and Modi issued March 2 names the four fields for the new arrangement and adds a pledge to explore artificial intelligence for space and Earth observation.
Ed Jager, minister (commercial) at Canada’s High Commission in India, made the case for the pairing at the India Space Congress in June. “India has an extraordinary launch capability and a remarkable track record in cost-effective mission design, while Canada has world-leading expertise in robotics, Earth observation, and advanced space hardware manufacturing,” he said, as reported by The Tribune.
India’s space budget is now more than twice Canada’s. Its Department of Space has a 2026-27 budget of ₹13,705.63 crore, or about $2 billion, compared with the $913.9 million the CSA plans to spend this fiscal year.
Defence ties are at an early stage
Carney and Modi agreed in March to set up an India–Canada Defence Dialogue and a maritime security partnership, and to negotiate a General Security of Information Agreement, which would let the two governments share classified defence information. India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the leaders launched those negotiations at the G7 summit in Évian, France, in June. Canada has also appointed a defence attaché to India.
A semi-official dialogue that the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada convened in New Delhi on March 5 found the trust deficit between the two security establishments “remains unresolved,” and saw naval cooperation as the most workable first step, its summary report says.
Trade deal targeted for year-end
Canada and India aim to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of the year, The Canadian Press reported. Negotiators held their fifth round in Ottawa Oct. 5–9. Two-way trade reached $30.4 billion in 2025, and Ottawa wants $70 billion by 2030.
Carney and Modi spoke by phone on Oct. 13. Carney’s office said they discussed growing engagement in finance, defence and security, people-to-people ties and artificial intelligence, and recommitted to concluding the CEPA “at the earliest opportunity.” The readout did not mention space.
The talks resumed after a diplomatic rupture that began in September 2023, when Ottawa said it was pursuing credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the killing of a Sikh activist in British Columbia, which India rejected. The two countries named new high commissioners in August 2025.
Modi arrives in Canada on Dec. 11, his first trip to the country since the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in June 2025. Neither government has said whether the CSA–ISRO arrangement will be signed while he is there.