Editorial – SpaceQ View

If space is so central to Canada’s economy and a driver of economic growth during the pandemic, why is it that the Space Advisory Board is dormant and that Canada hasn’t taken the next logical step and create a National Space Council similar to that of the U.S.?

This past weekend Canadian federal parties worked out an agreement for in-person and virtual meetings of the House of Commons.

The Canadian Space Commerce Association is no longer. Long live the Canadian Space Commerce Association.

In a world where news is disseminated seemingly at light speed globally, why is it that government departments and ministers make Canadians wait months before making an announcement on a decision that’s already been made?

By: Rob Thacker, Saint Mary’s University and Matt Dobbs, McGill University. Canada was among the early leaders in the space race, becoming the 3rd nation to have a satellite in orbit with the launch of the Alouette mission in 1962, aboard a US launch vehicle. For over 50 years our federal strategy has been to achieve our space goals through tight partnerships with other nations.

The Liberals rightly criticized the Conservatives for not being transparent when they were the government. Now that the Liberals are in power, they plan on following through with their promise to update the Access to Information Act. The problem? Bill C-58 will result in a less transparent government in which the government decides what the public should know.

Between April 24-28 of this year China and Canada met in Ottawa for the second exploratory discussions on a possible free trade agreement. If Canada moves forward with negotiating a free trade agreement it must ensure that Canada’s domestic space sector is adequately protected, unlike the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) agreement with the European Union.

They blew it. Plain and simple. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) press conference yesterday was billed by the CSA as a funding announcement and the event included two senior cabinet ministers. So you would think the announcement would be more substantive. Unfortunately the hype didn’t meet expectations.  

Today, Canada’s new Space Advisory Board will meet for the first time and a government dedicated to being open and transparent should follow NASA’s example, and make most Board meetings open to the public, either in person or by teleconference.

Recently, there has been noteworthy news related to small satellites. First and significantly, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released details of new applications from companies wanting to deploy constellations of small satellites, most in non-geostationary orbits (NGSO). This included applications from two Canadian companies, Kepler Communications and Telesat. The total number of planned NGSO satellites in applications filled since June of this year, is …