It doesn’t matter what space tech Canada is working on deploying; our country still finds a vibrancy in leveraging international partnerships to get things done in orbit, according to experts at the GeoIgnite online conference.
In a panel Wednesday (July 23) about the future of Canada’s geospatial sector, executives from the geospatial community working in industries ranging from Earth observation to robotics talked about our country’s contribution in space and where it will go next.
Canadarm3 made it into the news a few weeks ago, for example, when the Canadian government said it plans to name long-time robotics firm MDA to pick up the contract. Canadarm3 will not only build on the predecessor Canadarm and Canadarm2 arms that worked on the space shuttle and International Space Station (respectively), but it will use a measure of artificial intelligence to assist with repairs and maintenance on NASA’s Gateway station that is slated for construction at the Moon later in the 2020s.
MDA’s Paul Kennedy called the contract an “exciting push”, and the company is already looking at artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to increase automation and to overcome the two-second gap between sending a command to the moon and it being received.
Kennedy, who is the firm’s vice-president of the geointelligence group, said he is interested in working with “some of the technologies that have come through since the last time there was a Canadarm project”; Canadarm2 was installed on the International Space Station in 2001 and was developed in earnest in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Earth observation investment is also of interest to MDA, the provider of the Radarsat Constellation set of satellites that flew into orbit last year to renew the long-running Radarsat set of satellites the company has been managing. The company, Kennedy said, is thinking of renewing Canada’s radar network and to raise capacity in supercomputing, for weather prediction and for other applications.
MDA is also glad to work on technologies for international clients, Kennedy said, because that makes it cheaper to deploy similar technologies for Canadians when funding opportunities come up. The company welcomes collaborations with international partners as well, he said, which “don’t add a bunch of complexity, but make it easier and more cost-effective for everybody to progress.”
Indeed, moderator Prashant Shukle, who is president and CEO of Global Geospatial Group and who writes a column for SpaceQ, said that geospatial capabilities is “one of the best kept secrets in government” and asked the attendees about what they see as opportunities and threats for that suite of technologies.
Maxar’s Kumar Navulur spoke of his company’s two main business areas – one in space manufacturing and the other in Earth intelligence, which is linked closely with geospatial. Maxar has 20 years of legacy in the latter field and has long-standing relationships with customers to promote new technologies and set the bar, added Navulur, Maxar’s senior director of strategic growth.
Happily, the U.S. government and military both see Maxar as fundamental to its key missions, he noted, and more data is coming down the pipe soon. Canada, he added, also has a long-standing excellent relationship with its own military in these fields. One prominent example is the Legion constellation, which is going to be working to decrease latency in getting data to the cloud for customers to use as quickly as possible.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) also participated in the panel, highlighting the various professions (engineers, architects, builders and so on) in the supply chain that deliver materials for big projects in Earth observation. ECCC is focusing on LIDAR technologies, geospatial information systems, satellite imagery and unpiloted aerial vehicles to diversify datasets as much as possible.
The online Geoignite conference concludes today.