MDA Space is acquiring spacecraft manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies from Raytheon to give the company a direct position in the U.S. defense market.
The acquisition will give the Canadian space company a “strategic foothold” in the U.S. defense market, CEO Mike Greenley told investors on Friday.
MDA Space announced the $620 million, all-cash transaction on June 19. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of 2026.
Raytheon acquired the Denver-based satellite manufacturer in 2020. BCT has launched more than 85 spacecraft serving a range of defense, intelligence, commercial, and scientific customers. BCT builds a range of spacecraft from cubesats to ESPA-grande-class and is a component supplier as well.
The majority of the company’s revenue, 75%, is attributed to defense applications, Greenley said.
“Historically, we have served the U.S. defense customers as a merchant supplier. However, BCT advances this dynamic as it provides us with an established U.S. presence, proven program delivery to U.S. defense customers and a pathway to pursue classified work and compete for prime contracts in our own right. This is a strategic foothold in the world’s most important defense market,” Greenley told investors on Friday.
Critically, it will give MDA Space the ability to pursue classified work in the U.S., which the company previously was not able to do, MDA Space CFO Guillaume Lavoie told investors.
It will add 400 highly skilled employees and two manufacturing facilities in the Denver, Colorado area. BCT’s expected revenue for 2026 is $160 million. MDA Space expects this to increase 2026 revenue by more than 10% at the midpoint. Overall, the deal adds $3.5 billion to MDA Space’s pipeline.
Greenley explained that access to the U.S. market is the primary reason for the acquisition. BCT is not currently an MDA Space supplier, but there are opportunities for vertical integration and to add BCT components into the MDA Space supply chain.
“We need a solid footprint in the United States. These guys are a solid company. They’re run well by a team that knows their business. They have good customer relations and good relations with business-to-business relationships with the other space members of the space community in the United States. We would just continue operating and then look for expansion opportunities in the future,” Greenley said.
As MDA Space is a Canadian company, it will have to set up a FOCI (foreign ownership, control, or influence) mitigated structure for BCT in the U.S.
