Opinion

The year 2017 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the space age and no doubt the major spacefaring countries of the world will mark this occasion, but it is unlikely that Canada will be among them. For some strange reason, despite its direct involvement in the exploration and exploitation of outer space since the very dawn of the space age, Ottawa seems to have forgotten how …

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 …

I’m not sure why SpaceNews published the opinion piece After Orlando, NASA-UAE deal gives reason to ponder space partnerships of Danny Bednar, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at Western University, the day after the Orlando terror attack. I can only surmise it was to pull a Buzzfeed and post something controversial to attract readers. It worked.

The Federal Budget brought a mild surprise and welcome news to the space community in that the government provided a specific funding dollar amount to sustain Canada’s contribution to the International Space Station (ISS) through 2024. The previous government had committed Canada to participating in the ISS through 2024, but had yet to allocate funds to make it happen.

Since the beginning, man has yearned to venture into the cosmos, which is a difficult achievement without access to space. Such is the attitude and position of Canada within the global space industry.

Last Thursday NASA held a series of media briefings for the upcoming launch on November 1st of the Space Shuttle Discovery, its 39th and final flight. After this launch there is only one scheduled launch left, tentatively set for late February. There may be an additional flight in June or next fall but not all of the funding has been appropriated. As the Shuttle program …

The Conservative Government of Stephen Harper, which governs as if it had a majority because of weak opposition, is notorious for controlling information disseminated to the public. This extends to every public agency including the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), much to its detriment.

Six months aboard the International Space Station has flown by at orbital speed. If asked to do so, I could remain aboard the Station and continue to perform well. But I feel a fatigue setting in that even weekends and a good night’s sleep cannot relieve. It is now time to return home.