A Canadian parliamentary committee recently heard that defence procurement needs to accelerate, not only to give Canadian companies stability in creating new technologies but also for security purposes.
Four companies testified in a two-part meeting of the Standing Committee on National Defence on Oct. 29. The witnesses were:
- Ottawa’s Calian Group, represented by CEO Kevin Ford, which provides ground stations and space equipment;
- Ottawa’s Mission Control Space Services, represented by founder and CEO Ewan Reid, which provides artificial intelligence and other software for space operations;
- Halifax’s Galaxia Mission Systems, an intelligent satellite manufacturer represented by founder and CEO Arad Gharagozli;
- Maritime artificial intelligence company Global Spatial Technology Solutions Inc., represented by founder and CEO Richard Kolacz. GSTS has headquarters in Montreal.
“Defence procurement in Canada takes too long and is, frankly, no longer fit for purpose in a digital era,” Ford said. “The duration of the process often means that a capability defined in an RFP is no longer the most current by the time it is procured. In space, development cycles are faster than procurement. Without fundamentally changing defence procurement for space programs, Canada risks procuring yesterday’s capability tomorrow. Improving dialogue between defence and the commercial sector would be a positive step in accelerating procurement.”
RFPs, he added, assume an outcome and Canada should instead “engage with the commercial space sector to discuss how the problem could be solved with existing technologies, or technologies that will be available soon.“
Reid said Canada is a “challenging environment,” particularly as the country is so export-based. “Canadian firms like mine need more than moderate and intermittent R and D [research and development] funding. We need the certainty of a long-term plan from – and partnership with – the government. We need to be able to move from R and D and demonstrations to selling our technology and services to government.”
He asked for tools to help Canadian firms “sell more reliably, quickly and efficiently into the government” as private investment in Canada – a population of approximately 40 million people – is a fraction of what the United States of more than 300 million people offers.
“It would allow the space industrial base to raise capital, continue to advance, demonstrate and commercialize key technologies, and compete internationally. Beyond competing internationally, empowering the domestic industrial base ensures sovereignty over space capabilities.” He added later in his testimony that if the Canadian government could frame itself as a more frequent anchor customer, it allows companies like Mission Control to go to other potential clients to say: “Look, we know the government needs this, so we’re going to go out and raise that capital and we’re going to build that capability.”
Kolacz noted that space defence is so complex – needing to “cover a range of threats, from physical destruction to the much more subtle disinformation and deception tactics” that it is difficult for Canada to do all things. But with partnerships through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and other allies, Canada can then zero in on specific niches that are of benefit to industry. One such pathway, the founder of an AI company noted, could be “AI-based analysis of satellite-generated anomalies, [which] is a low-cost, high-value capability that Canada could offer as a meaningful contribution to a collaborative space defence network.”
Gharagozli suggested Canada could follow something similar to the U.S. space priorities framework, which he said “underscores the need for resilient and responsive space capabilities.” He asked for timelines to be accelerated considerably: “I think we need to modernize those processes to make sure we can respond to projects where it’s not necessarily taking two years just to go through a contracting phase. For example, an end-to-end project of three years from awarding until deployment to space could be faster.”
Possible pathways for innovation in Canada could include “developing independent launch capabilities, investing in new space companies and ensuring seamless integration between Canada’s defence and private sectors,” Gharagozli added. The Trudeau government in January 2023 promised to allow independent space launches on a case-by-case basis while reviewing the regulations for space access. Such discussions are currently complex as multiple government departments and agencies need to be consulted for defence, environment, Indigenous, maritime and other purposes.
Representatives praised two developments since the committee had hearings earlier in the year discussing space security. Canada released a defence policy, “Our North, Strong and Free” concerning NORAD modernization efforts, such as developing better space surveillance, Arctic satellite communications and over-the-horizon radar. The timeline of the 2030s, however, drew concern from representatives. Similarly, Canada’s commitment to having a dedicated space council again was praised, but priorities will need to be executed quickly to stay in step with other countries, they warned.
Note the committee met before the U.S. election and the news that Donald Trump is the president-elect, which may change the security landscape in the coming months. For example, SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk will have a key role to play in the Trump administration as an advisor for government spending, and will likely have influence on government regulations related to spaceflight as well. Musk was mentioned a few times in the committee meeting for his role in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, as he is rumored to be in touch with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Another committee meeting on Oct. 31 noted that Musk has restricted the use of SpaceX Starlink in the theatre of war in that region, which has security implications as well. It was also briefly alluded to in the Oct. 29 meeting; Reid said, for example, “Mr. Musk seems to maintain a lot of control over, say, Starlink – he’s going to turn it off, turn it on” and added that SpaceX, as it launches the majority of the world’s satellites, “essentially has a monopoly” affecting Canadian satellites as well. Both Ford and Reid also called for more domestic space satellites to counteract the growing dominance of SpaceX.
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