MDA Space announced today a contract valued at approximately $1.1 billion with Globalstar for their next-generation low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.
MDA will manufacture more than 50 MDA AURORA software-defined digital satellites funder this new contract.
This agreement follows an initial Authorization to Proceed (ATP) contract announced on November 17, 2023, with an undisclosed customer, now revealed to be Globalstar.
“We are pleased to once again be working with Globalstar as they develop their next generation LEO constellation,” said Mike Greenley, CEO of MDA Space. “With the full contract now in place, we are moving full speed ahead on the program.”
The order comes after Apple made $1.7 billion USD investment in Globalstar last November for a new constellation to improve space-based communications for iPhones.
MDA Space stated that the “contract value of approximately $750 million will be added to the company’s backlog in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. This amount is in addition to the ATP value of approximately $350 million that was previously added to backlog, for a total value of $1.1 billion under the definitive contract.”
The figures are in Canadian with MDA Space saying they “Management assumed a US/CAD exchange rate of 1.43.”
The contract follows a previous order in February 2022 by Globalstar for 17 satellites to replenish their existing constellation and included an option for an additional nine satellites.