News

As MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) commences the downsizing of the Brampton based robotics group responsible for the iconic Canadarms, a small group of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) subcontractors and space focused businesses contemplate the “Next Breakthrough Space Technology for Canada.” Meanwhile, Com Dev International subsidiary exactEarth Ltd., wins a contract with the Canadian government and the cost for the James Webb Space Telescope just keeps growing …

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has announced the 1st Canadian Workshop on Orbital Debris to be held June 21-22 at the Canadian Space Agency conference centre in St-Hubert. The announcement follows the announcement last fall that the CSA became a full member of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC).

Next Friday in Toronto the Canadian Space Commerce Association will be holding it’s annual meeting with the theme The Next Breakthrough Space Technologies for Canada. The event will bring together executives, business owners, independent consultants, venture capitalists, scientists, engineers, R&D managers and students. Some of Canada’s top commercial space companies will be represented along with smaller new companies, academia, the military and the Canadian Space …

SpaceRef has obtained a report by four of Canada’s ten largest space companies in which they are critical of the federal governments implementation of research and development (R&D) funding as outlined in the governments Science and Technology strategy “Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage.” One of the reasons cited is that “the pendulum has swung too far away from direct funding for companies at …

The government announced this morning that the federal budget will be tabled on March 22nd. At that time it is expected that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will receive an increase in it’s budget by 8.7%, this according to the National Post.

He didn’t once mention the term “geomatics,” but that is certainly what Canadian Space Agency (CSA) President Steve MacLean was referencing when he said that data obtained about the Earth from space “now has the precision to contribute meaningfully to Earth based activities” such as resource tracking, mining, farming and industry. MacLean made the comment during his keynote address at the University of Toronto Space …

The US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency exercises an option for more data from RADARSAT II and COM DEV International hires the very experienced ex-president of Rogers Telecom and Spar Space Systems to sit on the HR and compensation committees. Meanwhile, back in the ivory tower, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) posts two new funding opportunities for Canadian universities looking to participate in the Mars Science Laboratory. …

At 4:53 p.m. eastern the space shuttle Discovery launched on what is her final mission. It was a launch whose countdown went smoothly until the final few minutes when a range safety command computer malfunctioned, almost postponing the launch a day.

NASA mission managers met yesterday morning and gave space shuttle Discovery a GO for launch today at 4:50 p.m. eastern. The mission is a key one for the International Space Station and for Canada it’s an opportunity to conduct research and bring back experiments from the International Space Station.

Last Thursday the X Prize Foundation announced the final entries in the Google Lunar X Prize and the lone Canadian entry was submitted and approved just before the deadline. The official roster of entered teams now stands at 29 from four continents. They are vying for a total of $30 million in prizes. To win the teams must send a robot to the Moon and …