Montréal Firm to Build More Than 1,300 Antennas for Eutelsat LEO Network Expansion
MDA Space Wins Repeat Airbus Contract for OneWeb Constellation Antennas
A contract that will put more than 1,300 antennas aboard an expanded OneWeb low Earth orbit constellation has been awarded by Airbus to MDA Space. The award marks the second major antenna order the Canadian company has received for the satellite network.
“The selection of MDA Space for this repeat order underscores our company’s reputation as a reliable partner in enabling advanced satellite communications and connectivity around the world.”
Mike Greenley, MDA Space
Under the contract, MDA Space will design and build more than 880 Ka-band steerable antennas and 440 Ku-band user replacement antennas for the OneWeb constellation, owned by global operator Eutelsat. The award follows an initial order to supply close to 2,000 antennas for the constellation given to MDA Space by OneWeb in 2016.
The OneWeb constellation is the second largest in low Earth orbit, with approximately 650 satellites. Eutelsat awarded Airbus the contracts to build the constellation extension in two phases — for 100 satellites in December 2024 and for an additional 340 satellites in December 2025.
The new antennas will be built, assembled and tested at MDA Space’s high-volume satellite production facility in Montréal, then integrated into Arrow telecommunications satellites manufactured by Airbus.
“The selection of MDA Space for this repeat order underscores our company’s reputation as a reliable partner in enabling advanced satellite communications and connectivity around the world,” said Mike Greenley, CEO of MDA Space. “With the growth of satellite constellations continuing to accelerate, MDA Space is ideally positioned to meet full constellation life cycles from the initiation to expansion to the replacement of satellites, antennas and subsystems.”
MDA Space has delivered antenna systems for more than 350 satellite missions. The company received a performance award from OneWeb for the original constellation deployment.
The contract extends a partnership chain that runs from Eutelsat, the Paris-based operator that owns the OneWeb network, through Airbus as prime satellite manufacturer, to MDA Space as antenna supplier. The two-phase Eutelsat-Airbus agreement — one in late 2024 and one in late 2025 — laid the commercial foundation for the MDA Space antenna order now publicly disclosed.
The award positions MDA Space to supply antenna hardware across the full commercial lifecycle of a major LEO constellation, from initial build-out through capacity expansion and eventual component replacement.