Photo: MDA Space

Toronto-based MDA Space presented MDA Midnight, an on-orbit servicing platform, at Space Symposium on Monday morning.

Midnight is designed for rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) use to detect, identify, counter, and deter threats to space assets, MDA said in a statement.

Midnight’s first mission will demonstrate capabilities to inspect and report satellite status on-orbit; detect, attribute, and mitigate electronic countermeasures; capture and release cooperative satellites; and de-orbit a non-operational asset. MDA also listed satellite refueling and on-orbit asset relocation as capabilities.

The company said its flight controller team, with deep experience conducting free-flyer captures and on-orbit robotics, will support Midnight from the ground.

“At MDA Space, our technology and our team have millions of hours of experience planning and conducting on-orbit operations,” MDA Vice President of Robotics and Space Operations Holly Johnson said. “As we bring this leadership to serve space defence customers, we are actively seeking military partnerships to collaborate on upcoming mission profiles and timing, as well as commercial payload partners to augment our suite of on-orbit capabilities.”

MDA said Midnight leverages recent advancements in the company’s other products, such as its Skymaker robotics and Aurora satellite bus platforms.

The company said Canada’s recent declaration of space launch as a key sovereign capability reflected the growing importance of the space domain, and that Midnight is designed to address emerging customer needs in this context. Experts have called for the United States to similarly recognize space as a critical infrastructure sector.

Midnight is designed for rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) use to detect, identify, counter, and deter threats to space assets, MDA said in a statement. It branded the satellite platform as a means of turning space domain awareness into actionable decision-making.