The world’s space economy is offering billions of dollars in opportunities to the Canadian space industry, but there are obstacles in the way.
That was the message delivered on October 18, 2023, by Deloitte Senior Advisor Scott Streiner. He was speaking at Spacebound 2023, the annual conference hosted by Space Canada, the industry trade association, The conference sessions are being held at Ottawa’s Canadian Museum of Nature October 18-19th.
In a word, the potential for global space spending is huge. “By 2040, the global space sector could be worth $2 trillion,” said Streiner. “That is not a crazy number; That is a perfectly reasonable projection. If Canada can snag a portion of the global space economy equivalent to its proportion of the global economy, 2%, that means we could have a Canadian space sector worth $40 billion by 2040 — ‘40 by 40′. We at Deloitte think that’s an achievable goal, but in order to achieve 40 by 40 and grow the space sector so that it contributes to Canadian prosperity, good jobs, national security and dealing with climate change, we have to create the right conditions.”
The first of these ‘right conditions’ requires a Canadian space industry that is willing to take risks; to design and finance innovative space-related product and services in order to reach 40 by 40. “ The folks in this room from various space companies need to bring boldness,” Streiner said. “ They need to bring ambition. They need to bring drive and persistence and a willingness to collaborate in new and different ways.”
The second necessary condition is government support. To achieve 40 by 40, the federal government needs to centralize and streamline its space policy governance, create a “modern regulatory framework for space,” and increase funding for Canadian space projects. “Canada has stepped up with budgetary infusions for space in recent budgets,” said Streiner. “But it also needs to be acknowledge that, as a proportion of GDP, Canada’s public spending on space is still last among the G7 countries.” The federal government also needs to speed up space procurements, and foster collaborations between government officials and scientists.
When it comes to this last point, Scott Streiner pointed out that “nobody’s got all the answers.” This is why collaboration across the Canadian space sector is key. “ The MDA/Telesat tie-up on Lightspeed is an example of that, but of course there are many, many others.” They include the Canadian Space Agency’s plan to create a virtual platform to encourage collaboration, plus the push to establish “dedicated space incubators across the country” to help innovators and entrepreneurs “create new products and services.”
“Let me just conclude by saying that this is a moment,” Streiner told the Spacebound 2023 audience. “It’s a moment globally for the space industry, and it’s potentially a huge moment for Canada. But seizing this moment, seizing this opportunity, is going to require everybody to step up. We’ve started to increase our pace in this race. We need to start really running hard.”
- Read our previous stories from the annual Spacebound conference.