MDA Space Shares Drop After NASA Shifts Focus to Moon's Surface and Away From Space Station

By Robb M. Stewart

Shares of Canadian robotics and satellite systems company MDA Space were under pressure after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said it was looking at making changes to its planned Artemis mission as part of a renewed focus on returning to the moon's surface.

MDA's shares sank 10% to C$40.22 in Toronto, narrowing the advance so far in 2026 to 51%. On the New York Stock Exchange, the shares were 9.8% lower at $29.42.

MDA Space said it is monitoring NASA's ongoing discussions regarding the Artemis mission following the announcement the space agency is suspending plans to create a lunar orbital space station known as Gateway and it shifts focus to infrastructure that enables sustained lunar surface operations.

MDA is developing a next-generation robotic arm system known as Canadarm3, which was expected to serve as Canada's biggest contribution to the Gateway outpost.

The company said its Canadarm3 program associated with the Artemis program falls under a contract with the Canadian Space Agency and not with NASA or the U.S. government. There has been no change to any MDA contract and work on the Canadarm3 program continues to progress, it said.

MDA said the Canadarm3 contract serves a number of markets including space agency and commercial opportunities.

NASA this week committed to returning to the moon before the end of President Trump's term, and said it would build a base and establish a presence there. The agency also said it will begin to incorporate more commercially procured and reusable hardware to undertake frequent and affordable crewed missions to the lunar surface, initially targeting landings every six months, with the potential to increase that as capabilities mature.

MDA said it welcomed efforts to accelerate the Artemis mission and a broad, sustained new market opportunity that a return to the Lunar surface represented. It said it is in continuous dialogue with the Canadian Space Agency and expects that Canada will continue to contribute robotics technology to the Artemis mission.

Planned to launch no earlier than 2029, Canadarm3 will be composed of a next-generation large robotic arm, a small dexterous arm and a set of specialized tools. It was meant to be a critical component that would be used to maintain, repair and inspect Gateway, relocate modules, enable science in lunar orbit, help astronauts during spacewalks and capture spacecraft visiting the station.

Canada's government in June 2024 said MDA would receive 999.8 million Canadian dollars ($728.7 million) to continue work on Canadarm3 and begin detailed design, construction and testing.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2026 14:58 ET (18:58 GMT)