SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
Anyone reading the widely circulated Canadian Press (CP) story last week titled “Canadian Space Agency becomes third customer of commercial U.S. rocket firm” can be forgiven if thinking this was new news. In fact it wasn’t. The Canadian Space Agency through it’s contractor MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) had secured a launch for the CASSIOPE satellite almost 5 years ago.
Read More »SpaceX Falcon 9 Makes it to Orbit on First Attempt
Earlier in the day it seemed like SpaceX would have to wait another day to launch. First there were boats in the range and the safety officers would not let them launch until they had cleared, then came the launch abort with 2 seconds to go before launch. But SpaceX tried again, and at 2:45 eastern the Falcon 9 soared to lofty heights on its …
Read More »Final Flight of Atlantis has Large Canadian Element
While there has been a great emphasis on the fact that currently STS-132 will be the final flight of the space shuttle Atlantis, there is another almost forgotten aspect of this mission – the Canadian aspect. This mission will be utilizing many Canadian elements.
Read More »Canadian Space Agency Gives Green Light to Build Prototype Mars Rover
The Canadian Space Agency yesterday issued a request for proposals for a $6 million Mars Exploration Science Rover (MESR) prototype as part of their Exploration Surface Mobility (ESM) program. The due date for proposals is June 8 and work must be completed by the end of December 2012.
Read More »Canadian Space Agency Reorganization Underway
The federal government on March 25th released the 2010-2011 Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Report on Plans and Priorities. The report indicates that in anticipation of Cabinet and Treasury Board approval of the Long Term Space Plan (LTSP), a reorganization is underway. The much anticipated 10 year LTSP would begin to be implemented this year as soon as the government approves the plan.
Read More »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 …
Read More »
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 …
Read More »
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 …
Read More »
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 …
Read More »Shrinking Budget and No Space Plan puts the Canadian Space Agency in a Bind
On March 4th the federal government will release what is expected to be a frugal budget. This is in part is due to lower tax revenues. The December 2009 deficit was $3.1 billion with revenues down $19.4-billion and program expenses up $22 billion. With revenues down and the deficit climbing the government has signaled that there will be few new spending initiatives and that some …
Read More »