Canada and France are preparing to share infrastructure at two of the most strategically important points in the space industry, getting spacecraft off the ground and controlling them once they are in orbit.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and French President Emmanuel Macron directed their countries’ space agencies, defence ministries, and industries to develop and share what Ottawa called “common space infrastructure,” including launch systems and ground reception and control facilities.
The directive stops short of committing money or identifying facilities. No launch location, budget, timetable, or specific technology was disclosed.
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But its scope moves the partnership beyond research cooperation or procurement of individual satellites by targeting infrastructure that underpins independent access to space.
The agreement also comes as Canada pursues deeper integration with Europe in strategic industries. Ottawa said the leaders discussed a broader Canada-European Union alliance built around complementary capabilities intended to strengthen sovereignty and resilience.
Carney has argued that closer European links can reduce Canadian vulnerabilities without replacing the country’s relationship with the US.
READ: Nobel Prize, Person Of The Year Floated For Mark Carney Amid Strengthening EU Ties
France has separately been pushing for greater European autonomy in space. A September 10 declaration backed by EU governments identified launchers, satellites, navigation, connectivity, and space traffic management as critical parts of Europe’s space ecosystem and described space infrastructure as increasingly central to security and geopolitical influence.
Two days before the Carney-Macron meeting, Canada’s Department of National Defence awarded French company Aldoria a contract under its commercial Space Situational Awareness Data program. The procurement allows government users to obtain data from companies operating space-monitoring sensors and sensor networks.
CanadaBuys lists Aldoria’s agreement as running from September 18, 2026, through September 30, 2027. Aldoria joins existing suppliers tied to the same solicitation, including NorthStar Earth & Space, MDA, and Australia’s High Earth Orbit Robotics.
The broader Canada-France initiative now potentially connects that surveillance layer with launch and ground-control infrastructure, expanding bilateral space cooperation from acquiring data toward building and sharing the systems that provide access to orbit.
