Marc Boucher

Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor & publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media Inc. and CEO and co-founder of SpaceRef Interactive LLC. Boucher has 20+ years working in various roles in the space industry and a total of 30 years as a technology entrepreneur including creating Maple Square, Canada's first internet directory and search engine.

MDA Gets Next Contract in RADARSAT Constellation Mission

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) announced yesterday that the Canadian Space Agency has authorized MDA to start the design phase (C) of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission. The value of this contract is limited to $11.8 million and is expected to be completed by June 11, 2010. The announcement comes two weeks after the federal government unveiled it’s budget which included funding for the RADARSAT …

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ASTRO 2010 Conference

ASTRO 2010 is the 15thin the series of CASI Astronautics conferences that take place every two years. The theme selected for ASTRO’10 will bring together the Canadian space community to explore how we can work together to address pressing issues impacting our quality of life in three areas of great concern – safety and security, the environment, and the economy. May 4 – 6, Westin …

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Canadian Space Policy Idles or Does It?

Readers familiar with our ongoing Canadian Space Agency Watch series know that space policy is an issue we tend to focus on. In particular the long anticipated but elusive Long-Term Space Plan (LTSP) the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has been working in since the fall of 2008. So it came as a bit of a surprise when we found out that not only had the …

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Space Agency Heads Discuss Extending Space Station Lifespan to 2028

Today in Tokyo the leaders of the space agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States met to discuss the future of the International Space Station (ISS). The space station is nearing completion and the group noted there are no technical constraints to continue operations beyond 2015 to 2020 and possibly 2028. Extending the lifespan of the station to 2028 is a matter …

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Commercial Space – A Growing Industry in Canada

In the budget released by the government last week was $397 million of new funding for the RADARSAT Constellation Mission. In addition, the Canadian Space Agency had already allocated $100 million for the Constellation. The green light to this project is an important step in maintaining highly skilled jobs and keeping Canada a leader in the Earth Observation field which will benefit the growing Canadian …

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Budget 2010 – The News is not all bad for the Canadian Space Agency

The Canadian Space Agency got the green light to go ahead with the RADARSAT Constellation Mission as reported earlier. The governments Economic Action Plan provided the Canadian Space Agency with $110 million over three years in last years budget. Of that, it was reported that $10 million had been committed while another $36 million will be committed this year. The $36 million for this year …

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RADARSAT Constellation Mission get Funding in Budget

Today’s budget from the government provides the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) with $397 million of new money to help fund the RADARSAT Constellation Mission over 5 years. Along with $100 million that the CSA already has, the CSA will have a total of $497 million for the project. The bulk of the spending will happen after 2011-2012. This project which had already been in the …

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Canadian Throne Speech Hints at Increase in Earth Observation for Arctic Sovereignty

The Conservatives Governments throne speech today, in advance of tomorrow’s budget, only hinted at possible increased funding for Earth Observation for Arctic sovereignty. The text of the speech which dealt with space was rather vague as you can see. “Canada has been a spacefaring nation for nearly 50 years. Our Government will extend support for advanced research, development and prototyping of new space-based technologies, especially …

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