The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on Wednesday announced that 15 companies will share $11 million under its Space Technology Development Program (STDP) AO 10.
The agency posted the awards on its website and they cover 16 projects, from a satellite reaction wheel designed to burn up on re-entry to a heater meant to carry a rover through the lunar night. All are non-repayable contributions covering up to three-quarters of a project’s cost.
The awards come from its announcement of opportunity (AO) 10 opened in January with up to $12 million split across three streams. About $860,000 of that has not been awarded yet, most of it in the largest stream.
That stream, for technologies within two to five years of reaching market, funded nine projects at up to $1 million each. Five small businesses received smaller awards, and a third stream for earlier-stage ideas had room for just two projects.
The awards
Eleven of the 16 projects are at companies in Ontario, four are in Quebec, and the 16th is in Alberta, where TransEON is developing high-frequency radio amplifiers for satellite internet.
Seven of the 15 companies also received awards last year: Obruta Space Solutions, Kepler Communications, Volta Space Technologies, MPB, Mission Control Space Services, MDA Space and NordSpace. Obruta, an Ottawa company building software and sensors for satellite servicing, is the only double awardee this time, with two awards worth $1.5 million together.
The 16 projects
| Company | Location | Stream | Contribution | Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABB Inc. | Quebec City | Advanced | $999,657 | Very-high-resolution optical imaging payload |
| Honeywell Limited | Ottawa | Advanced | $999,999 | Reaction wheel designed to burn up on re-entry |
| Kepler Communications | Toronto | Advanced | $1,000,000 | Next-generation high-speed satellite modems |
| MAYA Heat Transfer Technologies | Westmount, Que. | Advanced | $528,876 | AI-assisted spacecraft thermal analysis tool |
| MDA Systems (MDA Space) | Brampton, Ont. | Advanced | $1,000,000 | Radio-frequency tile for next-generation SAR antennas |
| MPB Technologies & Communications | Pointe-Claire, Que. | Advanced | $1,000,000 | Optical fibre subsystem for laser communications |
| NordSpace | Markham, Ont. | Advanced | $1,000,000 | Zephyr-200 electric propulsion for small satellites |
| Obruta Space Solutions | Ottawa | Advanced | $1,000,000 | Autonomous flight software for orbital operations |
| Volta Space Technologies | Montreal | Advanced | $861,858 | Laser power and data links for lunar exploration |
| CSMC Nuclear | Toronto | Small business | $350,000 | Khyber radioisotope power system concept |
| Mission Control Space Services | Ottawa | Small business | $349,993 | AI agent for onboard mission replanning |
| Photon-IV | Cambridge, Ont. | Small business | $350,000 | AI prediction of low Earth orbit satellite passes |
| Qoherent | Markham, Ont. | Small business | $347,762 | Onboard AI for spectrum sensing |
| TransEON | Edmonton | Small business | $350,000 | Q- and V-band gallium nitride amplifiers |
| Canadensys Aerospace | Bolton, Ont. | Next-wave | $499,997 | Tritium radioisotope heater unit for the lunar night |
| Obruta Space Solutions | Ottawa | Next-wave | $500,000 | Event-based imaging for satellite servicing |
Seven of the CSA’s 16 project summaries invoke Canadian sovereignty, and two more cite the Arctic or security. ABB’s very-high-resolution satellite camera, its summary says, would reduce “Canada’s reliance on foreign providers for critical satellite imagery.”
NordSpace of Markham, Ont., one of three companies sharing Ottawa’s “Launch the North” rocket grants, gets $1 million, its second STDP award in as many years, to take its Zephyr-200 electric thruster for small satellites from a laboratory prototype to a fully tested model. The CSA’s summary lists it as a domestic propulsion capability for Canadian Earth observation and communications missions.
Canadensys Aerospace of Bolton, Ont., gets about $500,000 for a lunar radioisotope heater unit, a small capsule that gives off steady warmth as its radioactive fuel decays. It would use tritium, a hydrogen isotope produced in Canada, to keep batteries and electronics alive through the two-week lunar night. Canadensys and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories announced a tritium heater program in July.
CSMC Nuclear Inc. of Toronto gets $350,000 for Khyber, the early design of a radioisotope power system, which turns the heat of decaying isotopes into electricity. The CSA says it is meant to suit vehicles such as the agency’s proposed Lunar Utility Vehicle. The awards come two weeks after the Canadian Centre for Space Isotopes opened in Toronto to study whether Canada can supply such fuels.
The smallest STDP industry round since 2014
Each of the eight industry rounds from 2014 to 2025 were larger than this one so far, according to the CSA’s STDP web page.
Year Round Awarded Technologies Funded 2014 AO 2 $13.1M 38 2015 AO 3 $14.3M 17 2017 AO 4 $18.9M 35 2018 AO 5 $15M 29 2021 AO 6 $23M 48 2023 AO 7 $16M 29 2024 AO 8 $15M 22 2025 AO 9 $14.2M 20 2026 AO 10 $11M 16
The CSA added a $1-million award to NordSpace weeks after it posted last year’s list, so this year’s total could still grow. Even if all the remaining money goes out, the round would reach $12 million, still below every round since 2014.
The CSA also buys technology through contracts under the same program, so these awards are not its whole budget. The CSA’s January call set July 1 as the expected start date for the projects.
The federal government promised in 2012 to double the program’s budget. Responding to a review of Canada’s aerospace and space sectors led by former cabinet minister David Emerson, it said: “The CSA will double its Space Technologies Development Program budget to reach $20 million annually by 2015-16.” A SpaceQ analysis in February found the program has not kept to that commitment.