If the start of 2021 is any indication of how the new Canadian owned MDA is going to fare, then when the company does go public, possibly this summer according to the Globe and Mail, then the pitch to institutional investors might go pretty smoothly.
Today MDA announced another contract, this time with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Defence Research and Development Canada for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing as part of the Dark Vessel Detection (DVD) program.
MDA states that the “DVD program will combine data from multiple satellite missions, including MDA’s RADARSAT-2, combined with space-based radio frequency collection and geo-spectrum analysis to assist in locating vessels involved in illegal fishing. MDA’s advanced analytics, multi-sensor data fusion platform and expertise in maritime domain awareness will support the international community to combat the challenges facing our oceans and environment.”
The contract is for three years and valued at $7 million according to the Fisheries and Oceans press release.
Busy start to the year for MDA
In the last month MDA has had some substantial news. Here’s a quick rundown and links to those stories or news releases;
- Jan. 27, 2021: MDA Appoints new Vice-President of Satellite Systems – This was the start of the newsworthy month. Amer Khouri took over from retiring Joanna Boshouwers as the company’s new Vice President of Satellite Systems. This is one of four senior Vice President positions at the company.
- Jan. 29, 2021: MDA extends satellite operations capability through contract award by the Canadian Space Agency – This $36.6 million contract will see MDA “provide satellite flight operations and data management services for the Agency’s Earth observation and space situational awareness satellite missions.”
- Febr. 2, 2021: MDA Announces RADARSAT-2 Continuity Mission – MDA announced that it will design and build a commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for its own commercial use, a departure in how it has previously approached satellite development. This could arguably be the biggest news of the month.
- Feb. 3, 2021: Team Canada approach employed for building Canadarm3 – More than 400 representatives attended a recent Canadarm3 industry day in January to discuss the once-in-a-generation opportunity the new robotic arm will bring to our country. MDA is the prime contractor.
- Feb. 18 2021: MDA has two important related news items this day – Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster Funds Deployment of Flexible Automation Solutions and MDA Selected for Major Role on Telesat Lightspeed. Our story is here: Telesat, MDA secure $400 million investment from the Government of Québec, will invest $1.8 billion in the province.
- Feb. 22, 2021: MDA Announces the Appointment of Vito Culmone as its Chief Financial Officer – MDA selected finance veteran Vito Culmone to help lead the company as it moves closer to a public offering.
- Feb. 23, 2021: MDA Awarded First Production Contract for the Canadian Surface Combatant Project – This is part of larger push by MDA to garner more work on Department of National Defense programs.
- Feb. 24, 2021: MDA Awarded Contract to use Satellite Based Data Fusion and Analytics to Counter Illegal Fishing – Today’s latest news release.