Free trade agreements are by their very nature a means of increasing trade between two or more countries. In the case of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the deal Prime Minister Trudeau signed in Brussels on October 30th could have a significant negative effect on Canada’s domestic space industry. Industry sources SpaceRef Canada spoke to are very concerned, with one saying …
Read More »Op Ed – The Government Should Support Canada Becoming a Small Satellite Manufacturing Hub
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 …
Read More »Details Emerge on Kepler Communications and Telesat Small Satellite Constellations
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released details this week of applicants seeking to build a variety of satellite constellations. The most dramatic application came from SpaceX who are looking to build 4,425 small satellites to be used in low earth orbit. From the Canadian perspective, there were two applications, that of Kepler Communications who are based out of Toronto, and Ottawa’s Telesat.
Read More »Report Recommends that Canada Should Recognize Space as a Component in its Critical National Infrastructure
Among the 13 recommendations from the Canada – UK Colloquium report, Space: Obstacles and Opportunities, is the recommendation that “Canada should recognize Space as a component in its Critical National Infrastructure”.
Read More »Concordia University wins satellite challenge but will their satellite ever fly?
A team of students from Concordia University won the third Canadian Satellite Design Challenge (CSDC), the second time a team from Concordia has won the competition. The competition wrapped up just over a week ago at the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) David Florida Laboratory in Ottawa. Space Concordia, as they are known, also won the inaugural challenge in 2012.
Read More »Indian Rocket Launches Canada's M3MSat and CLAIRE Satellites
At 11:57 p.m. EDT (8:57 a.m. Indian local time) the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) PSLV-34 rocket with 20 satellites onboard flawlessly launched. It was a milestone mission for India as it continues to showcase its developing launch capability. Two Canadian small satellites, M3MSat and CLAIRE, were successfully launched as part of the secondary payload.
Read More »SpaceRef to Broadcast Live ISRO Launch of M3MSat and CLAIRE Satellites
On Tuesday, June 21 2016 at 11:57 p.m. EDT (0357 UTC) the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-34) carrying 20 satellites. Two of those satellites are Canadian, M3MSat and GHGSat. You can watch the launch live on SpaceRef.
Read More »National Defence Awards MDA Polar Epsilon 2 Contract
Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan announced today that National Defence had awarded a contract to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA) to deliver the Polar Epsilon 2 system. The delayed project first issued a Request for Information in late 2013.
Read More »Canadian Greenhouse Gas and Air Quality Small Satellite CLAIRE Set for Launch
A Canadian demonstration small satellite, CLAIRE by GHGSat, is scheduled to launch on June 21 at 23:57 p.m. EDT (June 22, 03:57 GMT) on an Indian rocket as part of a secondary payload of smaller satellites to be launched. The primary payload is the Indian Cartosat 2C high-resolution earth observation developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Read More »Op-Ed – The 2016 Canadian Budget is a Start But Action Must Follow Words for the Space Sector
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.
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