Business

If anyone thought MDA was leaving Canada, they better think again. The announcement on Monday that they had acquired Ottawa based Neptec Design Group is an example of how the company is consolidating its hold on key technologies.

Kepler Communications announced this week that they had partnered with the UK’s Satellite Applications Catapult on developing a third demonstration satellite and expanding their operations into the UK.

There have been several attempts in the past to start a commercial spaceport from scratch in Canada, but none have reached the milestone of completing and submitting an environmental assessment for review by the jurisdiction in which they want to launch. And while Maritime Launch Services has reached this milestone, there’s still the hurdle of funding to surmount.

A Latching End Effector (LEE) ground spare, or as it’s sometimes referred to, the “robotic hand”, and which sits at each end of the Canadarm2, is being launched to the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow onboard a SpaceX cargo resupply mission.

Last Wednesday the European funded RemoveDebris satellite, a space debris technology demonstration, was deployed from the NanoRacks Kaber deployer on the  International Space Station by astronaut Ricky Arnold.

The federal government’s Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) has sent out notice that is now accepting submissions as part of its annual Pre-Budget Consultation for Budget 2019.

Canada’s mining sector is in need of a long term plan to maintain Canada’s leading position in the industry as well as prepare for the future. That’s what provincial and federal ministers agreed to last summer. That plan is called the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP) and consultations are ongoing.

President Trump today signed Space Policy Directive – 3 (SPD-3), space traffic management, which aims to have the U.S. lead in the management of space traffic and space debris.

Last year the University of Manitoba made the decision to bring in industry veteran Philip Ferguson to help the university expand its research efforts with respect to small satellites.

In an ongoing effort to grow revenues from the Canadian business unit of Maxar Technologies, MDA’s Group President, Mike Greenley, continues to reorganize the company.