John S. MacDonald and Vern Dettwiler founded MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates in the basement of MacDonald's Vancouver home in 1969. On 17 November 1995, the company became a subsidiary of
Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC), a U.S.-based company. MDA was the primary contractor for, and took ownership of, the
RADARSAT-2 Earth observation satellite. In March 1999, MDA bought the space robotics division of
Spar Aerospace, manufacturer of the
Canadarm, and renamed it MD Robotics. The company completed the
Mobile Servicing System (including the Canadarm2) for the
International Space Station. OSC sold its entire stake in 2001. Nearly 70% was sold to a group of Canadian investors; the
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) became the largest shareholder with a 29% stake. In the 2000s, MDA experienced difficulties winning government contracts in the United States due to its foreign ownership. In 2008, an attempt to sell the space division to
Alliant Techsystems was blocked by the Canadian government on national security grounds. The subsequent lack of Canadian business led to layoffs. The real estate information business was sold in early 2011, with MDA buying Space Systems/Loral from
Loral Space & Communications in 2012, resulting in OTPP reducing its stake to less than 10%. the company moved its headquarters to Colorado, United States. On 8 April 2020, Toronto-based investment firm Northern Private Capital bought the MDA assets from Maxar for (). and named the new company MDA Ltd., while establishing its headquarters in Canada. The contract was further confirmed on 16 December 2020, when NASA and the CSA announced the finalised agreement to collaborate on the Gateway, which included the robotic arm system Canadarm3, the installation of two scientific instruments, and a commitment to provide two crew positions for Canadian astronauts. On 7 April 2021, MDA became a publicly traded company on the
Toronto Stock Exchange trading under the symbol MDA. On 16 August 2023,
Telesat announced it had chosen MDA to build 198 small satellites for the Telesat Lightspeed
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) program. The project will utilize MDA’s digital beamforming array antennas and integrated regenerative processor. The Lightspeed satellite is slightly smaller than the previously considered one. Antenna will be designed and manufactured in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. On 7 March 2024, MDA announced it had rebranded to MDA Space. == Facilities ==