A “transformational year” pushed the MDA year-end quarterly gross profit up nearly 60 percent as the company reported its fourth-quarter 2021 results Thursday (March 17).
The Brampton, Ont. manager of the Canadarm and RADARSAT programs reported strong revenue growth, order bookings and backlog just days after receiving a new Canadarm3 design contract from the Canadian Space Agency, and disclosing plans for a new global headquarters with robotics operations integrated at the new location.
“We’re leveraging our global leadership in space robotics, innovation and long history of success for Canada to embark on space agency work, and engage with a full slate of new and exciting commercial opportunities as they emerge – to provide both proven technology solutions and on-orbit operational services,” CEO Mike Greenley told investors during a conference call Thursday.
The headquarters’ planned Space Robotics Centre of Excellence will offer on-orbit services for Canadarm3 and other programs, Greenley said, offering a mission control for both commercial and government markets.
“With the market for robotics rapidly maturing, our timing could not be better to bring a new suite of commercial robotic products to market combined with new control centers to provide on orbit operational services,” he added.
Revenues were up to nearly $116 million (or 15 percent) compared to Q4 2021, mainly on the strength of satellite systems and robotic and space operations. Gross profits increased by $45 million (59 percent), gross margin was up to 39 percent (over 29 percent in Q4 2020) and EBITDA was at $22.9 million (from $11.6 million in Q4 2020).
Telesat Lightspeed, Canadarm3 and a Canadian Surface Combatant Program for shipbuilding contracts are all expected to bring in a strong 2022, the company said. Greenley spoke to other factors across the industry indicating growth, including a record number of global launches, more national space programs and funding in countries across the world (including Canada), and the launch of industry association Space Canada in 2021 to raise awareness.
He also spoke to the importance of the Artemis Accords, which is seeing Canada as a key partner in a global, NASA-led initiative to bring people to the surface of the moon later in the 2020s. The current schedule will see a Canadian go around the Moon aboard Artemis 2 around 2024, although the date may be pushed back due to technical issues identified by NASA’s inspector general (such as spacesuits, and delays in starting the human landing system.)
Geointelligence is another vector of growth for MDA, Greenley said, pointing to the CHORUS (next generation radar satellite) series that the company is developing to succeed upon Radarsat, Radarsat 2 and Radarsat Constellation. C-band and X-band synthetic aperture radar will be available upon the new CHORUS constellation, he said.
“This approach will provide the most extensive radar imaging capacity available on the market. It significantly enhances existing services, and enables new applications not feasible with existing SAR satellites.”
MDA is also providing a helping hand to the “tragic situation that we all see in Ukraine,” Greenley said, referring to the invasion by the Russians ongoing since Feb. 24 – an invasion that has resulted in NATO condemnation and numerous sanctions, including in the space industry. (The ISS is so far, however, unaffected.)
MDA has special authorization to “collect radar satellite imagery over restricted areas,” Greenley noted, which is useful for relief and other operations given that SAR can peer through clouds and other adverse radio conditions.
These images are being merged and analyzed with other sources of imagery, available at other Earth observation companies,” to develop comprehensive near real time intelligent reports for Ukrainian government officials,” he noted.
MDA has been facing issues with supply chains due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but officials said the company continues to manage this situation through seeking design alternatives for its key technologies. Programs are also planned out as far as possible to avoid delays, the company said during the conference call, sometimes as far as three years ahead.
That said, MDA is a partner on the multinational Telesat Lightspeed Constellation. Telesat has said repeatedly in recent months that their satellites may be delayed due to the ongoing supply situation. Telesat has not yet provided any statement about the impact of any delay, if it indeed occurs, but emphasizes it is talking with key partners to minimize the problem.
Headcount increased significantly in 2021 due to the pace of new programs, and more is expected in 2022, MDA said, not releasing any numbers in the conference call. MDA recently told SpaceQ that they have roughly 2,400 employees across all sites, with 670 team members in robotics and corporate groups in Brampton. The new HQ will house 700 MDA team members, and MDA will hire hundreds of new engineers and support staff for Canadarm3, Holly Johnson, the company’s vice-president of operations, told SpaceQ in a recent interview.