MDA Space opens CHORUS Control Centre

MDA Space Ltd has officially opened the MDA CHORUS Control Centre in St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Québec.

The new control centre will serve as the operational hub for MDA CHORUS satellite operations, marking a significant step towards operational readiness ahead of the late 2026 launch.

Designed to serve commercial and government customers globally, MDA CHORUS is a next-generation Earth observation constellation designed and built by MDA Space. Set to provide among the most extensive dual-band synthetic aperture radar imaging capacity available on the market, once commissioned, the constellation will deliver industry-leading 700 km-wide imaging swath and sub-metre high-resolution spotlight images, day or night, regardless of weather conditions.

How the Earth observation constellation will deliver data

The dual-band satellite constellation enables tipping and cueing, where the leading wide-area C-band satellite images a broad area of interest and the trailing high-resolution X-band satellite zooms in for a closer look. This delivers both broad situational awareness and precise detail in a single pass.

Mike Greenley, CEO of MDA Space, said: “The opening of this new state-of-the-art control centre is a critical and exciting step as we prepare to launch and operationalise MDA CHORUS.

“Backed by decades of on-orbit operations experience across a team that has supported one of the world’s most important Earth observation space assets and missions, this facility brings together the people, systems and infrastructure required to deliver the extraordinary insights and intelligence that global customers depend on.”

Drawing on a broad network of expertise

The MDA CHORUS Control Centre consolidates satellite mission operations expertise, bringing together the teams and systems that will manage MDA CHORUS in a purpose-built control environment.

MDA Space also has locations in the UK, including Didcot, Manchester, Stevenage and Farnborough, focused on advanced space exploration and satellite communications technologies.

The new facility is equipped to support the full scope of satellite operations, from command and control to mission assurance and Earth observation data delivery.

With the CHORUS Control Centre now open, MDA Space remains on track for the launch of MDA CHORUS in late 2026 and the commencement of commercial operations in early 2027.