News

The Canadian Space Agency is looking to industry for new business models in support of their satellite operations as the volume of missions it has to manage grows and become more complex.

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.

Although it started with an objection, the 61st meeting of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) reaffirmed the role of the Committee as a unique venue where member States and Observers may inform, learn, express appreciation, voice concern and simply come together to discuss particular issues and raise aspirational bars regarding the exploration and use of space.

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.

Canada has a vibrant astronomy community involved in ground-based and space-based astronomy programs and missions. According to my guest, Rob Thacker, we’re doing ok with ground-based astronomy programs but are failing when it comes to space-based astronomy missions.

While originally designed to last only two years, SCISAT is set to celebrate its fifteenth birthday this August. The concept for the mission came about over 20 years ago and some of the data being collected is still unique. There’s no other satellite like it, and plans to replace it are in a bureaucratic holding pattern.

Just before the Canada Day long weekend, Governor General Julie Payette announced 105 new appointments to the Order of Canada including three people from the space community; Astronaut Roberta Bondar, cosmologist Neil Turok and former Canadian Space Agency President (acting) Virendra K. Jha.

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.

The international space community gathered from 18-21 June in Vienna, Austria to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first global Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE).

Rocketry teams from Canada once again won many awards at Spaceport America Cup including the McGill University rocketry team, which won the Genesis Cup as the best overall team.