Tag Archives: Budget

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) today published its departmental plan for the current budget year 2018-19, and while it is slightly higher at $349 million than last years planned spending for this year, it is a continuation of a downward budgetary spiral.

As the Canadian government considers what do to about the future of Canada’s space program we thought it might be worth looking back a few years to the same question that was posed in the U.S.  This interview by Eva-Jane Lark with Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses how space and the economy are interrelated. The  interview first appeared in Space Quarterly Magazine in September 2012.

It’s been almost a year since the government unveiled its latest iteration of a Space Advisory Board and immediately its members were thrown into the lions den.

There’s a reason Budget 2018 didn’t include any significant funding or major new programs the space community wanted. The government says “more work needs to be done” on developing a long-term strategy. 

The Space Advisory Board has sent an email to stakeholders expressing their disappointed with Budget 2018 but says they will continue to “emphasize” the “need for urgent action to reverse the decline in Canada’s space capability” as they engage “with the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and his officials.”

It was meant to be an armchair discussion with Bill Nye “The Science Guy” on budget investments in Canadian innovation, particularly science. However, while mainstream media picked up on the political query related to the Kinder Morgan pipeline program at the end of the session, what they didn’t pick up on was the not-so-subtle poke Nye made about the space program.

Surprising most people, the government unveiled $21.5 billion in new spending, more than anticipated for Budget 2018. This includes and significantly, $3.2 billion for science funding and a total of $6.4 billion for what the chapter in the budget calls Progress.

In the recently announced budget the government had announced $80.9 million in new funding for the Canadian Space Agency over five years. We now know a little more about the projects the funds will go to.

The Liberal Budget 2017 will be presented to Canadians on March 22. For the space community it’s expected that there will be no major projects announced. This comes as no surprise as a new Space Strategy won’t be released until June, and a new Space Advisory Board has yet to be announced. Any new major funding would come in next years budget.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has issued a Letter of Interest (LOI) soliciting ideas from the space community for the Space Technology Development Program (STDP) before a potential Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued. This is a refreshing departure from recent STDP solicitations.