It seems every couple of years another group comes along claiming they’ll setup a spaceport in Canada with Nova Scotia being the preferred location. The latest is Maritime Launch Services (MLS), a newly registered company in Nova Scotia with roots in the U.S and the Ukraine. What sets it apart from recent previous efforts is the experienced principals involved.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has revealed the final 72 candidates and provided profiles of those aiming to become one Canada’s next two astronauts. For the final 72 it’s an opportunity to chase a dream so few get a chance to. The prize at the end of the selection is years of training and at least one, if not more, opportunities to fly to the International …

In this weeks Short Cuts we talk about the upcoming budget, moonshots, the universe as a hologram, the making of the RADARSAT Satellite Constellation, our new feature Startup Files, our new Culture section and more.

Alone, stranded 11.9 light years from Earth in the Tau Ceti system after an accident, Deep Six chronicles the lives of 250 intrepid astronauts and their military escorts on a perilous deep space mission trying to establish humanity’s first outpost outside of our own system, only to experience a hostile first encounter. Exoplanet Tau Ceti F had been discovered two centuries earlier and is now known as …

Space is hard. While startups success rates are slowly increasing in low earth orbit (LEO), it’s even harder for startups looking beyond low earth orbit. In fact, no company with the goal of operating a commercial enterprise near or on the moon, can call themselves a success, yet. But just maybe we’ll the emergence of one as a the result of the Google Lunar XPRIZE.

In this weeks Short Cuts, Canada funds an instrument which will be key in conducting first-ever global survey of Earth’s surface water, exactEarth announces the results of its first year of operations as a public company, UrtheCast signs binding agreement with a government customer to buy two satellites in its OptiSAR constellation and more.

The first lecture of the Canadian Science Policy Lecture Series featured Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who gave a presentation titled Science Advice in a Troubled World on Monday, January 16.  The Canadian Science Policy Lecture Series was created by the Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC).

SEDS Canada, the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), have selected four university applications to participate in the Canadian Reduced Gravity Experiment Design Challenge (CAN-RGX) competition. It is the inaugural year for the competition which received 21 applications from universities across the country, a sure sign that SEDS Canada’s goal of growing its membership is working.

Everyone knows how critical water is in the daily lives of everyone on our planet. That’s why the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission which will conduct the first-ever global survey of Earth’s surface water is important and why Canada is contributing to the mission.

SpaceX and its customers can breathe a sigh of relief today after an instantaneous launch went off without a glitch. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 12:54 p.m. EST and began deploying the first of 10 Iridium satellites 59 minutes later.  At 2:13 p.m. EST SpaceX reported that all of the Iridium satellites had been deployed successfully.